Runaway Walter
by diangie
Summary: It is Christmas Eve and everyone has left the garage which leaves Walter alone and a lot of time on his hands to think.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Scorpion or any of CBS affiliates**

 **I have revised this chapter due to some grammatical errors and added a line or two. For the most part the story hasn't changed.**

 **It is Christmas Eve and everyone has left the garage which leaves Walter alone and a lot of time on his hands to think.**

Chapter 1 Memories

Walter's POV

It's Christmas Eve night and Walter was all alone in the garage. He had been up in his loft sitting on his couch thinking about what had transpired that day.

Getting to the cabin and help decorating it, volunteering to go help pick out a Christmas tree only to have Toby telling me in so many words that I was incapable of it while Tim was there and able to take care of it while at the same time bond with Ralph a little bit more. Then if that wasn't enough, running into the gunrunners and unknowingly bringing one of the them back to the cabin with us and putting everyone in danger, especially Ralph.

This was suppose to be a quiet family Christmas with no technology allowed according to Paige so everyone of us geniuses minded Paige's one rule: NO TECH ALLOWED. But guess who broke that one rule? Paige, she sneaked in her cell phone via her boot. But that was ok because it was Paige and if I had done anything like that I would have been called out by her on the whole issue. Well, I kind of did the same thing but not really considering it was suppose to be a present for her. I gave her a rebuilt laptop that I had been working on for a while. So in a since I didn't actually break her one rule at least not like she did.

Lets not forget about the heated argument with Tim that Paige walked in on and didn't here all of its verbal content. Like that would have help win her back at all. Not that she would have taken my side anyway considering we haven't been us for months now which feels more like years. I'm beginning to wonder if there is any chance at all to winning her back. Maybe Toby is right. I should just move on but I don't think I can. Maybe I'm destine to become ferret chow after all who knows.

Then to make matters worse Ralph gets kidnapped by the person who led us to believe that he was and undercover ATF agent who we found out by the gunrunners that we apprehended to be one them and the reason he was shot was because things went south among the group. What a day!

Then it all dawned on me. The look in Paige's eyes when she left with Ralph with Tim in tow like they were a perfectly happy family said it all. Paige was blaming me for the whole holiday gone bad. First it was Thanksgiving when I took that job for an engineering contract which turned out to be her mother and that whole day turned out to be one debacle after another and Paige's turkey was ruined by the end of the day. She blamed me for the mess that today turned into. Which in a way Thanksgiving was kind of my fault. Ok, I will take part of the hit for Thanksgiving but she can blame her mother for the rest. But, why blame me for Christmas? Never mind that Tim and Cabe was with me at the time. She's putting the blame all on me because I'm the genius, the eldest genius, that I should have known better, brought back trouble to the cabin and put her son in danger. She blames me just like she blamed me for when Ralph ditched school and sneaked passed all of the first responders and into the bio-hazard lab where I had a gun pointed to the back of my head and not knowing he was on the premises and I pulled the cords that controlled the whole building and nearly causing Ralph to fall into the incinerator. Granted, if I had known he was in there I would have taken the bullet to my head just to protect and insured his safety without a doubt. But this, this is not all of my fault. If she is going to place blame on anybody for this then she needs to blame Tim and Cabe as well not just me.

Then a realization hit him. Everything came flooding back like a dam had broke in his mind. The part that hit him the worst was the memories from the capsule. He distinctly remember telling Paige that it hurt him to see her and Tim together and the fact that she chose Tim hurt most of all and telling her that he loved her and he distinctly remembering Paige saying I love you back to him and that if he took her hand or pulled a lever, that part was rather fuzzy for some reason, but either way they would be together forever. And yet, they are not together but instead she is forever flaunting her personal relationship with Tim in front of him every day. All of the hugging and kissing done in his line of sight was done on purpose. Did she hate him that much or despise him that much. Exactly when did things become so broke between them. He knows it didn't phase him when Happy said she needed their divorce sooner than expected because she thought at the time that she was pregnant with Toby's baby. He was rather happy for both of them when the news came out but unfortunately it was never the case because the cadmium poisoning but what Paige had done was excruciatingly painful and purposefully done.

All of a sudden a lot of hurtful things started to come to mind by each one of the team members. Paige's hurtful actions and that one lie that hurt the most, Cabe pretty much telling me to let Paige be with Tim because he was the better guy for her and telling her that I loved her then was being selfish. Come to think of it, Cabe said in so many words that I wasn't good enough for Paige and Tim was a better choice for her anyway. Toby telling me that I should move on because Paige has moved on with Tim. Hell, it was Toby who was pushing for two years to get me to admit that I had feelings for Paige and when I finally admit to being in love with her Toby does this whole 360 degree turn and tells me to forget about her all together and move on because she seems happy with Tim.

Happy hasn't hurt me so much as the others did. She told me to ask Paige to Tahoe and I failed to do so. I sent Paige with Tim instead. Yes, I admit it was my fault but when Tim called on Paige's personal phone I felt like I could never compare to a normal guy like Tim and she had already made that decision in her life. If I had to compare, Tim is like Drew just with a better job so therefore I just disappointed Happy altogether on that point. So I don't see where she had hurt me in any of this beside supporting Paige's and Tim's relationship. Sylvester on the other hand never really said anything about the whole situation. He did try to bring us back together which was a failed attempt but then again he was too busy going behind my back with other things. First it was him dating my sister and not telling me for a while, then it was him marrying my sister without saying anything at all and me finding out after it was all said and done, then it was him having this whole relationship with my parents and never including me or telling me and then I found out everything when we went to Ireland for Pattern's Day and he got a greeted by my parents like he was **their** son that hasn't been home is so many years unlike me who was the **actual** son and barely got noticed except when it came to the childhood bullies and they noticed him right away but for all of the wrong reasons.

Ralph on the other hand is really too young to understand the adult concept of the whole situation but then again he is a genius after all just like me. But I really feel like I lost him too when he told me that I should have been the one to take his mom dancing and him and I could have been partners forever. If it was up to Ralph, I feel like I would have been Ralph's first choice but it isn't up to Ralph, it is all up to Paige so therefore, I feel like I lost not only the better part of myself but everything that went with it. So, of course I can't be mad at Ralph, he is **my** **boy** and always will be regardless if Paige and Tim likes it or not. I just hope Ralph doesn't shut me out of his life altogether since Tim seems to be becoming a permanent part of his.

At some point, Walter jumped up from the couch not even thinking about his actions but grabbed his carry on bag, passport, and all of his identification that he needed for travel. He grabbed paper and pen and started writing notes to each member of the team as well as to the whole team in general. He then called an Uber and while waiting on the car he distributed the notes to everyone's desk and left Ralph's note on the table in between his and Paige's desk as well as the note to the whole team. He even left a note for Tim. After making sure everything was secured and turned off and locked down the car had arrived to pick him up. He got into the back seat and told the driver where to take him. "LAX please."

"Sure thing." said the driver. I hope you make it to your destination before Christmas. Travel during the holidays are brutal especially at this point in the day."

"I know but if I don't get there before Christmas is over then it will be ok either way. It is currently 6pm here so I should get there by 6pm tomorrow. Everything should work out."

Arriving at LAX, Walter got out of the car and went to the ticket counter and ask if there were any direct flights to the east coast. If at all possible he was going to try to get direct flights to his destination. He needed some space to think and this is the only way he can think to get it.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Scorpion or any of CBS's affiliates.**

 **Author's Note**

 **If you have already read Chapter 1 Memories please keep in mind that I have made corrections to my grammatical errors and added a few lines here and there. Please keep in mind the chapter was not changed for the most part. Please enjoy Chapter 2: Discoveries.**

Chapter 2: Discoveries

Paige awoke earlier than she was wanting too. Then again someone was knocking on her front door. As she got up and putting a robe on, she walked out to the front door hoping she didn't have to kill Tim this early in the morning considering she distinctly told him he can come back over around 9am. Remembering last night of the conversation she had with him, she was really hoping Tim didn't just decide to come over early just to get her out of bed.

Tim came back to the apartment with her after directly leaving the garage. As promised, he came over and to helped wrapped gifts for Ralph and played a videos games with Ralph since he was over there early. He had hinted on several occasions about spending the night but she just wasn't ready for their relationship to take that next step for some reason. So, around midnight last night she sent him home and instructed him clearly to be back around 9am and the three of them could stop and get breakfast before going to the garage for their Christmas get together and finish exchanging gifts. Even though Tim wasn't up to going back to the garage he agreed to because Paige requested it and they have developed this tradition on the team's first Christmas together.

"Ok, ok, I'm coming just stop banging on my door before you wake up the neighbors or break my door down which ever come's first." Upon opening the door Paige got the shock of her life. "Drew!"

"Good morning and Merry Christmas Paige. Its been a while at leas six to eight months or so. You look great. A little tired and maybe stressed a little as well but none the less you look great."

Coming out of her shock, "Oh, um, thank you, um, come in Drew. Merry Christmas and good morning to you as well. Um, I just wasn't expecting you here. Did Ralph know were coming in town and he just didn't say anything to me about it. I'm sorry I really just wasn't expecting you at all maybe a phone call but not standing here in front of me."

"Um, no. I didn't say anything to Ralph about coming to LA because I wasn't for sure if I was going to be able to make it or not and I didn't was to disappoint him."

Arching her eyebrows and smirking, "Really. It's not like it would be the first time."

"Paige, I didn't come all this way to fight. Quite honestly, I came here to have a talk with you and Walter and Ralph at some point on this matter as well. Ok."

With a confused expression on her face, "Why do you want to talk with Walter and me? Is Ralph being threaten in someway?"

"No, no. It's nothing like that. It's me Paige. I really don't want to go into this multiple times so if I can wait and have you and Walter and Ralph together and just say it once because it is a difficult subject for me right to discuss at all let alone going through it multiple times. So, if we could wait I would greatly appreciate it."

Sighing, "Ok Drew. By the way do you want any coffee or anything?"

"Yea, sure. I could definitely could use a cup."

As Paige was getting Drew a cup of coffee they both heard a door open and as Ralph walked out of his room he had the same surprised look on his face which grew into a wide smile.

"Dad!"

"Hey buddy, Merry Christmas and surprised."

Smiling and walking up to his Dad, "Hey, I didn't know you were coming to LA today. Mom, why didn't you say anything?"

"Well, truth be told, I didn't say anything to neither one of you. So, your mother didn't know I was coming into town either. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it out here or not so I decided to just show up. This way, I would not disappoint anyone and surprised you both."

"Oh, ok, well, while you two play catch up I'm going back and get ready for the day.", with that Paige went back to her room to shower and thinking to herself "It's going to be a long day, I can feel it."

Upon Paige leaving the room both Drew and Ralph told her ok.

"Hey Dad, I'm think I am going to go and get dressed too and then afterwards we can play video games til we get ready to leave for the garage."

"Ok bud sounds like a plan. I'll just sit here and drink my coffee."

Calling back, "Oh Dad, I'm glad your here for Christmas. Its the first one we actually get to spend together in 10 years." With that Ralph gets up and runs to his room to change quickly.

While changing clothes, Paige started wondering why Drew really came into town and why it was so important that he wanted to talk with Walter and her together as well as Ralph. Then a thought just occurred to her, should she tell Ralph not to say anything about his kidnapping yesterday? Oh, what if he already said something? Then another thing occurred to her. It was Walter who jumped into the car to go after Ralph not Tim. Walter, no matter what, has always put Ralph first and foremost above himself and anyone else for that matter. It was Tim who stayed behind. If he is so crazy about Ralph like he said he is then why did he stay behind? With all these thoughts running through her head she finished getting ready for the day. As she was coming out of her bedroom, she heard Ralph and Drew playing video games when she heard a knock on her door. Stopping at the door to answer it, she called back to Ralph telling him to go and change and get ready so they can stop and get breakfast before going to the garage.

Opening the door to find Tim standing there, Paige suddenly became uncomfortable with the whole situation that was about to begin. Bending down to kiss Paige on the lips which ended up Paige turning her head and allowing Tim to kiss her on the cheek. "Oh um Tim, hi um Merry Christmas and good morning."

"Merry Christmas and good morning to you as well."

"Mom, I'm already ready for the day. Dad and I are just playing video games and waiting on you to get ready."

"Oh, ok. Well, Tim just arrived so we can go get breakfast when everyone is ready to go and then go to the garage and finish exchanging gifts. Drew, I'm sorry, but you won't have anything there to open."

"That's ok. If things go the way I hope they do that will be gift enough from the both of you as well as Walter. I promise."

Confused Tim asked, "I'm sorry, who are you and what is going on here?"

"Oh, I'm sorry um Tim, this is Drew Baker, Ralph's father. Drew this is Tim Armstrong, my um um boyfriend." It didn't go unnoticed by Tim how quickly Paige said that last word _boyfriend_.

"Nice to meet you Tim. Paige, I'm a bit surprised. I would have bet money on it that you and Walter would be dating if not living together by now."

Somewhat uncomfortable with the statement Drew just blurted out, "Well you're wrong, besides Walter and I are having some problems right now."

Sounding a bit unhappy Ralph stated, "Mom got mad at Walter and now they are barely speaking."

"Ralph" Paige said rather tersely.

"What? It's true."

"Paige, how about you, Ralph, Walter, and I talk about all of this later. Isn't there someplace we need to be? "

"Ok. Fine. Lets just get ready to go then."

"So, Drew,..." noticing Drew's travel bag sitting on the floor near the dining room table, "...where are you staying while you are in LA?"

"No where at this moment. I was going to call around to different hotels and motels to see if they have a room available at a reasonable rate considering it is Christmas Day."

"Why not stay here with Mom and me. It would be more efficient and logical. Besides all the room rates will be five times higher anyway because of the holiday. Not to mention staying here, you will be saving Mom on money and time. You can save her time by already being here and she can just get ready for work without having to wake me up and wait on you because you will already be here. You can also save Mom on money because she won't have to pay a sitter not to mention if she has to work later she doesn't have to pay anything extra and you don't have to be anywhere after a certain time. And one more thing, we can spend all the time we want together without you having to leave. So, there. Not only is the whole situation highly convenient but logical and efficient as well."

Paige looking at Ralph and considering everything that he just said. She thought about it for a few minutes while watching a rather hopeful look from her son's face. Before Paige realized it she agreed to letting Drew stay at the apartment with her and Ralph until he leaves to go back to Maine, which has yet to be determined.

"Ok, on that note lets get going. I starting to get hungry and we still have to go the the garage and have Christmas with the team. After Drew and Ralph exchanged high-fives they both exited the apartment and went on downstairs. Shaking her head at both Drew and Ralph she proceeded to gather her purse and jacket. As she got ready to exit the apartment she noticed the annoyed look on Tim's face.

"What wrong. You look annoyed."

"I am a little and for some reason it is mostly with you. What just happened here? Why did you agree to let your ex stay here?"

"For starters its not like Drew and I are going to share a bed and Ralph is right. It would be easier to already have Drew here so I don't have to pay extra or anything at all for a sitter when I have to work over due to a case. Besides, Ralph doesn't get to see his father that often and this could good for both of them."

With that being said Paige exited the apartment and waited for Tim to come out so she could lock the door. Upon exiting the apartment, Tim had a rather disappointed if not a discouraged look on his face. He definitely didn't not like Drew showing up and getting free reign over Paige's apartment when he cant' even spend one night and he is the one dating Paige.

Arriving downstairs, Paige and Tim walked over to her car where Drew and Ralph were waiting and chitchatting.

"Hey Drew, where's your car?" asked Tim.

"Oh,um, Tim, I don't have a car. I took a cab over here.

"Oh um..."

Just then Paige chimed in. "Ok, well, we can take my car or Drew can drive my car and Tim and I can take his and Ralph can choose which car he wants to ride in. It really doesn't matter."

"Paige, can I talk to you for a moment, please."

"Sure ok Drew." Walking a distant that seemed to be out of earshot, Paige looked over to check on Ralph who appeared to be ok but Tim looked flat out disgusted.

"Ok, Drew what's up. Something is wrong I can tell so just spill it."

"I really wanted to wait until Walter was present but I'll tell you this much now. I am under doctor's orders on not to drive period. Honestly, I haven't driven a car for at least two months now."

"Drew, what is going on with you, medically."

"I hate having to tell you this on Christmas Day, the way it is so can you make it a gift and wait until we get to the garage, please."

Looking skeptical at Drew, she really couldn't tell what he was hiding but there was something definitely wrong with Drew. First of all he just didn't look well least not the Drew she remembered looking healthy and second he seems really adamant about Walter being present for this discussion.

"Ok, I can wait, but as soon as we get to the garage we are having this discussion ok."

"Ok."

Walking back to the car. "Ok. I'm driving my car so Ralph go ahead and choose a car to get in, Tim do you want to drive your car or we all can ride in one car your choice."

"Why can't Drew drive your car?"

"Because Drew can't drive at this point, so we can take one car or both cars. It will make no difference to me either way at this point." Paige was starting to get a little disgusted with the whole situation. All she wanted to do at this point was go get breakfast not argue with Tim on how many cars to take.

I'll take my car then, Ralph which car do you want to ride in mine or your mom's?"

"I'll ride with mom and dad." Ralph said rather enthusiastically.

That being finally decided everyone piled into a car of their choosing and rode to Kovelsky's for breakfast. After breakfast everyone went to the garage to spend a few hours as a cyclone well as much of one as they can get considering the wedge that has formed between Walter and Paige that seems to be turning into the Grand Canyon.

Toby, Happy, and Sylvester were the first to arrive at the garage Christmas morning. On the way to the garage the trio started talking and for some reason felt bad for leaving Walter all alone last night. All three for some reason felt like that it was a bad idea because Walter did seem a little more down than he usually been for the past few months. When they stop and thought about it Walter has been slightly depressed ever since Paige started dating Tim. As the trio entered the garage all three sensed something was off. If they had to describe the garage in a word dark would be it. The coffee wasn't made as usual, everything was turned off or unplugged for some reason at this time of the morning. They would have figured Walter would have at least turned the Christmas lights on before everyone showed up like they had planned. Then when Toby looked up at the door leading to the loft he noticed it was still closed and no lights appeared to be on. Things just didn't seem right for some reason.

Toby went straight upstairs to Walter's apartment. Knocking on the door he tried to enter and realized that the door was locked. Knowing something wasn't right he called downstairs to Happy and Sylvester.

"Hey guys, when exactly was the last time Walter locked his loft door?"

"Doc, I don't recall him ever locking that door, why?" called Happy.

"I don't think he has ever locked that door not even when he was doing physical therapy from his near fatal car accident two years ago, why?" asked Sylvester.

"Well, its locked now. I tried knocking but he wouldn't answer."

"Maybe he is still asleep did you think of that." replied Happy.

"He is a megalomaniac. He doesn't not oversleep. Have you know him to oversleep any when we were staying here because of the INS Lady since she wasn't buying your fake marriage a few months back?" said Toby.

"Good point. Well, I could just pick the lock so you can go in there to check on him." replied Happy.

"Well guys..." Sylvester was catching Happy and Toby's attention,"...did anyone notice whether or not Walter's car is parked outside. There is a chance he may not be here."

"I'll take a look outside just to be sure. But, to be on the safe side, Happy you go ahead and get your pick tools and start picking the lock on the that door." With that being said, Toby descended the stairs to look outside to see if the company car was parked outside. Upon his return Toby stated "the company car is out in the parking lot, Happy go pick the lock."

"Hey guys, before you go picking the lock, how about looking for a spare key." suggested Sylvester.

Happy went to her workstation to get her pick tools and Toby went to Paige's desk to see if she had a spare key to the loft. He figured if there was a spare key Walter would give it to Paige first. So, while Toby searched Paige's desk for the key with no luck he asked Sylvester to check Walter's desk. By the time Sylvester got half way across to Walter's desk Happy hollered down tell to the two guys that she was already had the door open. Toby gave up his search and went upstairs along with Sylvester.

Upon entering the loft Toby cautiously walked back towards the bedroom area not sure what he was going to find because all of the circumstances they came across has been very unusual to say the least. As Toby rounded the corner he motioned for the other two scorpion member to follow him. The trio found and neatly made bed but no Walter. The trio then began to do a quick search of the area. They noticed that Walter's travel bag and shaving kit was missing. Now they began to worry because they were certain for one thing Walter was gone.

"Well, um lets look downstairs in the office area to see if he left a note. I did notice some paperwork on the middle table but I never did look at them to see what they were so maybe one of those sheets of paper downstairs may be a note letting us know where he went and when he will be back." said Sylvester.

"You're right." said Toby. "I noticed the sheets of paper on the table as well as the one on Paige's desk but I never paid much attention as we were trying to get into the loft."

The trio descended the stairs and went to the middle table. There they noticed the folded sheets of papers with individual names on them so Toby, Happy, and Sylvester went to their workstation and noticed that each one of them had a note that was address to each one of them and then there was one addressed to the team in general. Looking around Toby hinted that Walter may have done something very foolish last night and he doesn't think it was Walter going out and getting drunk and having a one-night stand. At that point the garage door open and Toby went through and picked up the rest of the notes to distribute them to everyone at one time after they break the news of Walter's disappearance. Turning around they were greeted by the one person they least expected which send all three geniuses into shock.

"Hey guys, Merry Christmas." greeted Drew who was followed by a very happy Ralph, a neutral looking Paige and a very unhappy looking Tim.

With mouths gaping all three surprise and shocked geniuses greeted in return with a good morning and Merry Christmas.

"Andrew, we didn't expect you here. When did you arrive?" asked Toby.

"It's Drew." said Drew with some annoyance lacing his voice. "I got here early this morning and surprised Paige and Ralph and from the looks on your three faces well I guess um, I surprised you three as well." smirked Drew. "Well, while I'm here I'm going to shock all of you even further. Where is Walter? I really need to have a discussion him and Paige and Ralph. It's very important.

"Um, we don't know. He isn't here.

Looking a little crestfallen Ralph made the remark that Walter's car was parked out side in its regular spot.

Sounding annoyed for a whole other reason, Tim asked "Have you tried calling Walter to see where he is at or maybe call Cabe to see if he knows anything about Walter leaving? For the first time since he arrived at Scorpion approximately seven months ago he wished Walter was here. Thinking to himself, " _Hopefully Walter will show back up soon and Drew can get his discussion over with and he can leave sooner that expected. He can even take Ralph with him if that gets him out of Paige's apartment sooner."_

"No, we haven't. As a matter of fact we only just arrived 23 minutes ago, ourselves." stated Sly while taking his phone out he began to scroll down his contact list to dial a number when Cabe walked in. Upon closing the door, Cabe felt a slight tug on the door and Veronica walked in as well.

"Veronica, I am so sorry. I didn't know you were out there or I wouldn't have tried to close the door on you." said a surprised Cabe.

"Oh, don't worry about it there's no harm done. Merry Christmas by the way and good morning to you."

"Merry Christmas and good morning to you also." stated Cabe.

Walking into the garage Cabe was shocked to see Drew just like the rest of the team. "Mr Drew Baker, what a surprise. Merry Christmas and good morning. Its been a long while."

"Yes Cabe, it really has been."

Watching Drew's body language and demeanor he leaned over and whispered to Paige asking if Drew was feeling alright. Looking at him he does not look healthy. She whispered back being as honest as she could she told Toby that he wasn't healthy and something is wrong but he wouldn't tell her until he sees and talks with Walter, Ralph, and Her.

Whispering back to Paige, "That may be a problem."

"What do you mean, Toby."

"Ok Paige." Toby catching everyone's attention in the garage. "We're just not entirely sure on what is going on but Walter isn't here. When we got in this morning, everything was turned off like no one has been down here at all this morning. When I went upstairs the door was locked and no lights were on. So, Happy picked the lock and upon doing a relatively quick search we noticed Walter was not upstairs nor on the roof and his travel bag along with his shaving kit were all gone. He also left notes for everyone of us including a note for the team as a whole."

Sylvester had already stopped what he was doing with his phone upon Cabe's arrival asked if he knew anything about Walter taking a trip anywhere and when Cabe answered no Sly went back to his phone and dialed Walter's number. Then all of a sudden they heard a phone ringing from Walter's desk. Ralph walked over to his mentor's desk and found not only his phone but also his laptop. The young boy looked up from the desk not sure if he was believing what he was seeing because he knows for a fact that Walter never goes anywhere without his phone or laptop.

"Is Walter really gone? Because I really do need to talk with him?" stated Drew; With everyone looking at Drew all of a sudden, Drew finally gave up some information as to why he was really here. "Look, I really don't want to go into details just yet but I do have some rather important papers for Walter to sign."

Paige looking at Drew with arch eyebrows decided she has had enough of Drew's vague need to see Walter and refuse to give her a reason without Walter present for the discussion. "Drew what exactly are you hiding that you need to talk to Walter so bad about and now you just brought to everyone's attention that there are papers that Walter has to sign. **Now, like it or not you and I are going upstairs and you are going to tell me what is going on. Lets go upstairs. NOW!"**

Clearing her throat Veronica finally asked "Paige are you going to introduce me here. Clearly you both know each other on a personal level."

"Sorry, Drew this is my mother Veronica Dineen and Mom this is Drew Baker, Ralph's father."

Both Veronica and Drew greeted each other and Drew excused himself and him and Paige went upstairs alone and shut the door. This whole scene didn't go unnoticed by the team especially by Tim who seems to be reaching his limit with one Mr. Drew Baker.

 _While upstairs:_

Once Drew and Paige reached the loft and shut the door, Paige headed directly over to Walter's desk and unplugged the intercom system which was basically the whole phone. Drew looked at her curiously and Paige said that her and Walter had enough of their conversations eve's dropped on by the same bunch downstairs.

"Out of curiosity, why haven't I met your mother before this?"

"Oh that is an easy answer she was probably in jail when we were together."

"Oh, well, I guess that is a good reason of not ever meeting her before now."

"Drew lets cut the small talk and tell me what is going on with you and why it is so very important that you so desperately need to talk with Walter and what papers are you wanting him to sign? Start talking Drew because Walter isn't here and I don't know where he is nor does the rest of the team, apparently, but we will do our best to find him so you can get your personal matters taken care of. "

"Ok, I'm not sure if I want Ralph up here or not but I think I should say this without him up here so I guess I just tell you and you can help me tell Ralph. But no matter what your relationship with Walter is, I need you to get over it and let what I want happen. I can also get Ralph's opinion on the subject of those papers and then I just use his suggestion and go with that. Ok.

Paige just nodded and waited for Drew to continue with his explanation.

So, you really want to know what is going on with me? About three months ago my team and I were out practicing and having tryouts for new players and signing contracts and what not. Well, someone hit a pop fly which fowled and it came down and grazed the side of my head. At first I didn't think anything about it, you know the hazards of the game and all, then I started getting a splitting headache and getting dizzy. So I had the head coach take me to the doctor because I didn't think I should drive. Instead of him taking me to the clinic down the road from the stadium Coach Dewayne took me to the emergency room instead. After running a few test, the doctor came in and told me they found something on my CT Scan. What the doctor thought was some bruising turned out to be a tumor that keeps growing. They are telling me that they could operate but they wouldn't be able to get it all. The risk for surgery is from possible blindness to partial paralyses to being a vegetable to death. Paige, I'm scared. I don't want to die and I don't want to be in a state where I can't see Ralph or spend any time with him and watch him grow to adulthood. If I have that surgery there is a strong chance that I would miss all of that and I don't want that. But if I don't have the surgery then my time is limited."

"Oh Drew, I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry. What about seizure, do you have any of those? Is that why you are not allowed to drive?"

"Yes."

"Why do you want to talk to Walter so bad. If I recall, the two of you really didn't get along?"

"That is where I need your cooperation. I know I do not have full custody of Ralph or really no custody at all but I do get visitation. I consulted a lawyer and he said that I can appoint a guardian for Ralph even though we are not married I can still appoint a guardian. I want Walter to take over my parental rights to Ralph. He is the better person for the job don't you think? Face it Paige, it was Walter who helped me to even develop some kind of communication with Ralph. Ralph wasn't even speaking to me and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't reach him. I called you for help that day and you were trying but all it took was one suggestion from Walter and the door just popped open just like that. Also, remember when Ralph was picked up by the DOJ and was going to be charged with triple homicide? I was trying to comfort Ralph after you, Walter, and Cabe went off to the side to discuss what was going on. Do you know what he said to me? I want to talk to Walter. That was Ralph's answer. It was never me he truly wanted there to help solve his problem and be there for him it was always Walter. Even when he came to visit me in Maine he always commented that Walter would enjoy this or that. So, when they found this mess in my head, I sat and thought about what would Ralph want and who would he want help getting him through his teenage years when he couldn't go you, his mom, for help. As much as I hate to admit it Walter would be the best choice to being a dad to Ralph, he always has been for the last three years. I think Ralph has just been waiting for permission to call Walter Dad."

Paige sat there shaking her head and listening intently on what Drew was saying then like a dam broke she remembered all of the times that Walter was there for her and Ralph especially when she needed him the most. She remembered the first day she met Walter and was shocked how easily it was for Ralph to interact with him when he didn't interact with no one that tried to date her before Walter walked into that diner on that faithful day. She remembered when her and Ralph were trapped on that train and how Walter had jumped on said train when it was doing close to a hundred miles and hour down the track and most recently was yesterday, that same haunting memory came back. It was Walter who jumped into the car with her to save Ralph from the kidnapper not Tim. Walter was always there willing to risk his life for hers and Ralph's no matter what. Everything came crashing down on her and without warning she began sobbing uncontrollably and mumbling to what an awful person she had been to Walter these last few months and yet he still put her first in his life.

Drew sat there looking confused at her not knowing what she was mumbling about nor exactly what she was crying about because what he could determine from it all was that he wasn't exactly the one she was crying over. He sat there trying to console her not knowing what to console her over but he was trying. They sat there for a while and Paige got control of her emotions and said that they need to tell Ralph about the illness but if he wanted to wait until Walter was present then it was ok and that she consented on making Walter Ralph's Dad. She knew deep down that it was the right choice to make for both geniuses because she knew also that they could never be separated because forcing them apart would cause a rip in her relationship with her son that could never be fixed. Not to mention both geniuses really needed each other.

Drew brought out a disc from his jacket pocket and asked, "Um, one more thing Paige, do you think Toby could look at this and give a professional opinion on it? I know what the doctors have told me on this but I figured since Toby being a genius I figured his opinion couldn't hurt either."

"Sure, I'll talk to Toby discreetly and have him to look at it. He may want to talk to you privately over it though but I'm sure he will be professional about the whole situation once I talk to him. So, let me get myself together and we will go downstairs, ok."

"Ok."

Upon hearing the door open from upstairs everyone turned to look at the couple coming down the stairs. Toby was the first to notice the slightly distressed look on Paige's face. It was obvious to everyone that she had been crying and not because of the puffy eyes but because they thought they heard her crying upstairs just moments ago. Tim was ready to go upstairs but Cabe stopped him and told him that everything was ok upstairs and Drew wouldn't hurt her. On the other hand Veronica didn't help by stating that if they wanted him up there they would have invited him up there with them. Now Tim was right by her side as soon as she got to the bottom of the steps and asked her if she was ok and got the reply that she was fine. Upon seeing Toby she asked if she could talk to him for a moment. Nodding,Toby and Paige walked away from the group so Paige could talk to Toby privately so with that they stepped into the air stream where they were out of earshot and eyesight of everyone.

"Ok, Toby I need you to keep what I'm going to ask you on a professional level. I know you as well as the rest of this cyclone didn't always see eye to eye with Drew and that all of you just really tolerated Drew's presence in the garage for my and Ralph's sake. So with that I and Drew would like your professional opinion on what is on this DVD and talk to Drew about it, please. And one more thing, DO NOT LOOK AT IT WITH RALPH AROUND NOR DISCUSS IT IN RALPH"S EARSHOT do I make myself perfectly clear?

"I promise on my Hippocratic Oath that I would keep this professional and I definitely promise not to look at this nor discuss it in front of Ralph."

"Good"

"Good"

Exiting the Air stream they both made their way to the rest of the group. Ralph was the first one to ask if everything was ok and got the response that everything would be ok and that everything would be explained to him in due time just not at this time. He seemed ok with that response. Tim on the other hand wasn't ok and slipped upstairs for some air.

Entering the roof and taking a deep breath Tim wasn't at all having a very Merry Christmas. It all began with last night when Paige asked him to take that job in Jordan. When she approach him while he was leaning up against the door frame of the elevator he had been thinking about asking Homeland for a new assignment here in LA and avoid going to Jordan altogether. This way he could still be with Paige and avoid the conflict between Walter and him altogether. He was thinking it could relieve some of the tension in the garage as well and make it easier on everyone at the same time. The reason he was having second thoughts on going to Jordan because he really wasn't for sure if he really wanted to go there. He thought he was falling in love with her but after she asked him to take the job he started questioning himself on whether or not she felt the same way. Then he dropped several hints here and there last night when he was at her place about staying over for the first time even though Ralph was there it should have been ok because he is a 12 year old boy and he probably knows more about human anatomy better than he did when he was 12 and would have been ok with him staying overnight. He has been dating his mother for at least six months after all. When he stopped to think about it, there were several different occasions that he suggested that she could stay with him at his place for the weekend since Ralph was either staying with Sylvester or one of his friends but she never would. The more Tim thought about it the more he realized that Paige wasn't fully into the relationship.

Everything that happen this morning made more sense than ever. He isn't the one to be the jealous type but for some reason Walter brought it out of him a little but Drew, Drew he just wanted to pound into the dirt. Drew seemed like he just walked in and decide to stay no discussing it no questions asked just decided to stay. It hurt that Paige wouldn't let him spend the night with her but she didn't seem to hesitate to let Drew stay with her in her apartment for as long as he was there. He knew that Ralph doesn't see his dad that much and he also realized how much money and time Paige would save on a sitter while at work but did Drew really have to live with her too. From there Tim's mind started to wonder all over the place over little things that has happened over the last few months well actually since he came on board with the Team. He tried to ignore the looks that Walter gave Paige especially since Tahoe but all the looks that Paige gave Walter was different. It was almost like she has been trying for the last six months to make Walter jealous and from the looks of it it was working but he was beginning to wonder if Paige was actually in love with Walter. Ralph seems to accept him with his mother but he cannot seem to get that one connection with Ralph that Walter has with him. With Ralph, he feels like he will never reach that father/son relationship that Walter has obtain so easily and he doesn't feel he will ever reach it due to the fact that Walter and Ralph are so much alike. Looking back on everything that has happened between him and Walter and now that Drew has popped back up even it is temporarily Tim was really trying to the fight the need to pound both of them in the dirt because he was beginning to feel that he can't compete with Walter nor Drew when it comes to Ralph and Paige is going to protect Ralph and take Ralph's side regardless of how Tim feels about both men. Deep down Tim realized what he had to do so with a sigh he went back downstairs to see what they were going to do about finding Walter and if he was even needed for the job. He also had to talk to Paige about an issue that was beginning to bother him. Going downstairs he thought to himself that this was his last week on this side of the world and it was not going to go the way he wanted and this year was not going to end the way he wanted and this Christmas was definitely not a merry one.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates**

 **I would also like to give a big THANK YOU to all the of great reviews that I have been getting. I greatly appreciate it especially since this is the first time I have ever written anything that I actually took the courage to post for everyone to read. Again Thank you. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 3:Notes

As Tim was coming back downstairs he noticed Toby passing out the notes that Walter had left for the team. As Tim got to the table where everyone else was gather around Toby handed Tim his note.

"Wow, thanks Toby. I wasn't expecting a note from Walter."

"Well, Timbo, you got one. The whole team got one remembered."

"Yea, well, I really didn't think I was any part of this team, you know."

Looking around the table and noticing everyone looking at their notes with indecisive looks on their faces. "So, are we reading these notes out loud or what?" questioned Tim. Tim also noticed how Paige was standing in between Ralph and Drew and felt a sudden pang of jealously go though him. Paige had a worried look on her face like her whole world was falling apart and he wasn't apart of it all of a sudden.

Suddenly, Cabe spoke up and made a suggestion, "How about we read the note addressed to the Team out loud first and then we read our own personal notes to ourselves and if anyone want to share its up to that individual. Ok."

With everyone agreeing on that suggestion, everyone also agreed on that Cabe should be the one to read the team letter.

"Ok, everyone comfortable?

 **Team Note:**

" _Team:_

 _Well, first and foremost, I remembered everything from the rocket and I mean_ everything. I also hope everyone had a good laugh over and over again at my expense. Glad I could amuse everyone.

 _After everyone left the garage last night, I sat up in my loft and thought about everything that had transpired at the cabin. Then I got to thinking about everything that has happened over the last few months because I couldn't figure out when, as a team, everything became so broken and strained especially between Paige and myself. I know I haven't been the best at emoting my feelings but I do try. I also know some of the things that has happened or the way somethings played out has been my fault, but I shouldn't shoulder all the blame like some of you think I should. I've tried to act like the_ _ **NORMAL**_ _guy everyone think I should be but then I get shot down for it. It seems like everything I try to do to improve myself I get negative feedback and no solution on how to correct on what I did wrong but, then again the person who is suppose to help me out in that area has all but turned her back on me and shut me out completely, basically abandoning me._

 _I can honestly say that there is only one person on this team that has not disappointed me nor am I upset with or mad at. One of you I'm just disappointed in and four of you has all but stabbed me in the back and twisted that knife ever so slowly. I'm at the point that I'm not sure if I want to continue Scorpion anymore. Scorpion may save everyone but I don't think Scorpion can save itself now. At this point I'm_ _ **DONE**_ _. I'm not sure what to do at this point. Each one of you has a note regarding everything I just said on a personal level. Right now I just need some space to think on what I want and what I should do. Like I said I'm_ _ **DONE**_ _."_

Everyone sat around the table or on the couch in utter shock at what was just read. Then everyone looked around the room at each other and then down to their notes in their hands. For the most part there seem to be the feeling of guilt and apprehension filling the room, then one by one each team member started reading their own note.

 **Cabe's Note:**

 _"_ _Cabe,_

 _I always thought you got me when I was a kid like you understood me more than my own father, but I guess I was fooled once more by you. You are the one who brought chaos into my cyclone. Ever since you brought Tim in as a training agent, it seemed like everyone and everything changed. I was no longer team leader. I was no longer good enough for anyone. You said it yourself in so many words that I wasn't good enough. You once told me that you hoped that I would think of the heart as more than a circulatory muscle and hoped that thought would change for me one day but the second I do and confess my love for Paige, you tell me that I was being selfish and Tim was the better guy for Paige not me. So, at what point did I not become good enough for Paige or have you always thought that. Better yet is that the real reason you brought Tim into the cyclone because he was a_ _ **NORMAL**_ _guy where I wasn't. You're normal, were you trying to bring someone in you can relate to better? I'm just trying to figure out when I stopped being good enough in your eyes?"_

After reading the note, Cabe felt so guilty and seemed to being getting emotional that he looked to have tears in his eye. He definitely didn't realize that he hurt Walter to this degree and he never met to disrupt his team or his life by bringing in the training agent. He knew Walter had been in love with Paige long before he admitted it. All the looks that were exchange between him and Paige, the way he cared for Ralph, to the moments he interrupted between the two. He knew it hurt Walter having to watch Tim and Paige everyday developing their relationship. He knew how much it hurt him everyday, it just never occurred to him to what degree. He felt like what hurt the most was when Walter insinuated that he though Walter wasn't good enough for Paige. Truth be told, Paige seemed a whole lot happier with Walter than she has ever been with Tim. Yes, she smiled and laughed with Tim and showed Tim affection but she never seemed to look at Tim with the same affection in her eyes as she did with Walter when they first met two and half years ago. Tim in Cabe's opinion never got the "Walter" look from Paige. All the looks that Paige had given Tim were almost forced like she felt pushed into his arms. She may be in a relationship with Tim but her heart wasn't in the relationship with Tim. He also felt like he should have said something about all the hugging and kissing and excessive touching they were doing in the office. They should have left all of that outside of the office and been more professional while on duty. He was definitely going to take those two off to the side the first chance he gets and have a stern talking to about their unprofessional behavior inside the office. It doesn't matter whether they are at the garage or at headquarters it was still the workplace and they should act accordingly. Now, the only thought in his mind right now was finding Walter and hoping he is alive and well wherever that may be.

 **Tim's Note:**

After noticing the senior agent's expression and watching the tears form in his eyes, Tim wondered what was in his note. Cabe was a lot closer to Walter than he could ever be but Cabe looked like he just lost a son in that note. So, Tim began reading his note.

" _Tim,_

 _You may have helped out the team effectively on several cases but at the same time, you have brought nothing and I mean nothing into my cyclone but_ _ **chaos**_ _. This is not so much about you dating Paige but has more to do with your decision making. The very first day you arrived you said that you CHOSE Scorpion to train with not Scorpion choosing YOU. Homeland never once let me in on the interview process to bring you in as a team member. You just basically showed up and decided to hangout until the Seals decided to take you back or not. Then the second you found out that you were medically discharged you again decided on your_ _ **own**_ _accord to stay on my team. There was no consulting me on the subject at all. It was like you came into my home for a visit and without discussion or question you just decided to stay just like that. What gave you the right to make those decisions? Well guess what? Regardless to what you or anyone else thinks, Scorpion is MY TEAM, MY COMPANY. Not yours or Homeland Security. Neither you nor Homeland put any startup money into this company. You didn't do anything to get Scorpion up and going. The both of you came to ME. You were brought here to train and that was it but then again I don't think you needed the training. The first mission out was for your personal vendetta no one elses. On that first mission you manage to get Cabe taken hostage and beaten and before it was all over, you manage to get Paige shot and nearly killed. Did you even stop to think and remember that she HAS a son. A son Tim. If you have gotten her killed it would haven been up to me to explain to Ralph why his mother didn't come back not you. If that wasn't enough I would not only have lost my best friend, I would have lost Ralph, both of which who has become a very important part of my life. You would have costed me the two people who has made me whole ever since the day I met them and if you are wondering how I would loose Ralph let me tell you. He would have been sent to Maine to live with his father and chances are I would not have been able to have any contact with him at all. But, I guess that doesn't matter because you took them away from me anyway. So, again what right did you have to come into my cyclone and decide to stay on a permanent basis without any thought of consulting me about it. Now, you see why I think all you have brought to me has been chaos."_

At first, Tim was angry and mad at what Walter wrote to him. It was him who shoved Paige into his direction and why was he being called chaos for it. Then, as he kept reading, he was beginning to realize that he felt the same way when Paige decided to let Drew stay with her during his stay in LA. He started to feel real guilty because he was right. He wanted revenge for the death of one of his Seal mates and he nearly did get Paige and Cabe killed over it. He never gave Ralph a second thought that day. Come to think of he told Paige last night that he was crazy about Ralph and yet he was the one who stayed back at the cabin while her and Walter risk their lives to go after the kidnapper. Not him but Walter, what was wrong with that picture? He has also known the entire time that Walter was in love with Paige. He has known it the whole time they had been together and has kept it a secret from Paige all this time. Now, here lately, he has been questioning on whether or not Paige was even love him considering she has never said the words out loud to him? He was going to talk to Paige about her true feelings for him before he left for Jordan because he wants to here more than "I like you a lot" at this point. He wants to know if there will be someone waiting him eight months from now. He wants to know definitely if this long distance relationship will be worth it. It just one of the many things he need to discuss with Paige the sooner the better. Also, he is definitely going to ask Paige let him know when Walter comes back and try to make peace with Walter and apologize to him over not discussing with him first about staying on with Scorpion.

 **Happy's Note:**

Happy looking as stoic as ever began reading her note. She may not be Toby but she could tell by the looks of the rest of the team that Walter had struck a nerve with each of them. Not Good, she thought. Surely, she hasn't upset Walter that bad.

" _Happy,_

 _I can't say that I have anything to be upset with you over. If anything I disappointed you. You were the one who told be to ask Paige out before I lost her all together. I did try to ask her out but when Tim called on Paige's cell phone, I felt compelled to back away because I felt like she had already made her choice and would rather have a_ _ **normal**_ _guy in her life instead of someone like me. So, that is why I suggested that she go to Tahoe with Tim. Looking back, I doubt if she would have said yes anyway at this point. But to make matters worse you and I were already married and looking back on that issue we both should have talked to Toby and Paige together to explain the situation as to why we got married and kept it a secret for six years. Maybe Toby would have taken the whole situation better can't say the same for Paige though, she more and likely would have left me anyway and taken Ralph so far away from me that I would never see him again. I'm beginning to wonder if everything that has happened over the last several months hasn't been her way to get revenge on me for not telling her about our marriage among a few other reasons. There is one thing I am disappointed in you for though and that is you stop supporting me. It felt like you approved of the relationship between Paige and Tim more than ever after Tahoe. Just know that I am not mad just disappointed. Maybe when I get back I'll just go back to being a "robot" you know as well I do that being a robot wasn't all that bad. Right?"_

After reading the note Happy realized she could have or should have helped more by getting Paige and Walter to talk to each other and try to help patch things up. If anything try to get Paige to listen period but she was dealing with her own problems at the time considering she dropped an atomic bomb onto Toby. She had to agree with Walter though, they should have talked to Toby and Paige on what they did and trusted them both to understand and maybe find a way to help without getting Walter deported and everyone would be happy but they didn't and that was on them. Come to think of it, she should have said something to Paige about all of the hugging and kissing her and Tim had been doing throughout the garage. Come to think Her and Toby didn't show that much public display of affection. The more she thought about Tim and Paige's displays of affection were starting to get to be a little too much. She definitely should have said something. She can only imagine what went through Walter's mind each time they did that in his line of sight. She was beginning to think it was done on purpose and not just happenstance. Her only thought right now was finding Walter and hoping he does not regress back to being the "robot" that he use to be.

 **Sylvester's Note** :

Sylvester looking very nervous and worried about his brother read his note.

"Sylvester,

 _You never seemed to have an opinion on a certain matter around the garage concerning Tim as being a member of the team whether it would be temporary or permanent but I'm not surprised. For someone who doesn't like to keep secrets you have been keeping a lot of them lately, especially the ones you have been keeping from me. You've gone behind my back at least three different times in the last year and a half or so alone and yet we are suppose to be brothers of which I am wondering what else you are hiding from me. First, you began dating my sister for almost a month before saying anything. When you did say something about dating my sister we were in the middle of an assignment in a foreign country where a drug cartel controlled the city that we were suppose to be in to extract a kidnapped victim. Then the second time you went behind my back was when you married her. I asked you to look after Megan not marry her. Never mind that you got Ray to help with the ceremony on top of that. All I wanted was to save Megan not let her die. What you don't know about is the phone call I received after you and Megan called mom and dad to tell them that you had gotten married. Do you realize that I endured the brunt of my father's anger over the phone because YOU married my sister. He didn't call you two to give you a piece of his mind, he gave it to me and blamed me for allowing it to happen in the first place. He BLAMED ME for everything not you or Megan just me. The third time you went behind my back was Pattern's Day. You stood in this garage and asked me for a run down on what to expect from my side of the family because you wanted to make a good first impression. Not once did you tell me that you have been in constant contact with MY parents all the while since Megan died. You didn't need my help in making a good first impression, you already accomplished that. Did you ever thought to ask me if I wanted to be apart of trying to reconnect with my parents? Did you ever thought to invite me over to Skype my parents or even do that here at the garage? It makes me wonder what Megan would think of you leaving me out. No, instead I found out about everything when we arrived at the farm on Patterns Day just to watch YOU got a better greeting from my parents and the rest of my family than I did. You got a big hug from both of my parents where I barely got a hug from my mother and hardly a handshake from my own father. I don't recall ever receiving a hug from my father. But then again I did get notice by Thomas and Connor who have done nothing but bully me for all of my life. Hell, I could have left all of you there and no one would have missed me. If it wasn't for the ceremony and the lake exploding no one, not You, not Cabe, certainly not Tim or Paige for that matter would have noticed me gone. I could have slipped quietly away and went back to LA without any of you noticing. Everyone noticed you were there and made sure you had everything you needed but not me. I know a lot of it was my fault because I have a strained relationship with my family but you still could have included me in and given me a chance to try to reconnect with them but you didn't. Instead you left me completely out."_

Putting the letter in his lap, Sylvester sat there feeling guilty and also feeling as if he was going to be physically ill. He felt tears stinging his eyes. Looking at the rest of the cyclone's faces he saw several different expressions which range from disappointment to hurt to anger to guilt. Not only did he feel the sadness he also felt ashamed and guilt because he not only felt like he let his brother down he felt like me failed Megan. Not having any idea where Walter went, he knew one thing for sure, he needed to find Walter and try to fix things between him and his brother.

 **Toby's Note:**

"Toby,

 _Well, where do I begin. I guess we can start about two and half years ago. You started on me almost immediately after I hired Paige. You chased after me just about everyday and telling me I needed to face my feelings for Paige. What's with this 360 degree turn, Huh. Was it because Happy turned your marriage proposal down and told you she was already married. Then after she left the garage, you started berating me on letting Paige go which was when I finally admitted that I loved her. Then ever since we got back you have done_ _ **nothing**_ _to help me get Paige back. All you have done was tell me that I should "let her go; she's with Tim; you should move on because she has moved on". How many times have I bailed you out. When I first met you you were having some serious problems with a Pit Boss. You were fixing to get pounded into dirt. It was_ _ **me**_ _Toby,_ _ **me**_ _who helped bail you out when I was trying to get the capital to get Scorpion started. I have stood by you while you gambled your life away and I would bail you out all at the same time. Granted I married Happy for my own selfish purpose but neither of us were into the marriage._ _ **Believe me, nothing ever happened between us.**_ _Not to mention that we were married before you met her. I know we should have told you when you first announce that you two were dating but we didn't. Then after the proposal, I removed any and all evidence of the marriage ever existed because I wanted to tell you so bad but I didn't know how. That was mainly because I had no one to help me. The one person that I could have talked about it to walked away from me and you supported it. You supported it all. I felt alone because I felt like everyone began to abandon me long before Tahoe. But when you did find out, Happy told you you were going to become a dad. I was happy for the two of you. I would have gladly divorce Happy for you, never mind the deportation. I've would have dealt with that and tried to get back here but ever since Tahoe, I just can't help but think about everything that has happened. All of the support you gave to Tim and Paige to move on and encourage their relationship. Was that your way of_ _ **revenge**_ _. I remembered the rocket, all of it. How much laughing did you do at me, huh? How many times did you re watched the video and called it psychoanalysis just so you can laugh at me that much more. I sure hope you enjoyed yourself. There is one more thing, I'm going to take your advice for the last time. I'm going to move on from Paige because clearly she will never love me in return. I know that much is so obvious to me because I'm never going to be normal enough for her. I know you found out about the marriage after the rocket incident. I just can't help but think you would use this as some kind of payback somehow."_

Toby sat there looking at the note with tears in his eyes not realizing just how much he had hurt his best friend, his brother. Walter was right about some things but not all. The rocket incident was never funny to him. He was watching his best friend slowly die and there was nothing he could do about it. Yes, looking back, some of the things that Walter was doing were probably amusing like Walter dancing around and kissing his hand but not watching helplessly while the person he considered as his brother die due to the lack of oxygen and then hearing him practically begging for help while he free fall from a 100 miles to earth without a parachute and with no chance of survival. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for Paige, Walter definitely wouldn't be here today. Only one thought occurred to him, wherever he is at this point, he needed to find Walter to make things right. Boy, did he mess up.

 **Paige's Note:**

 _Paige,_

 _You once told me you hated dishonesty because of your mother. So tell me, why did you lie to me. I could of dealt with omitting facts but why did you lie to me in the worst way possible not to mention continuing that lie by shoving your personal relationship with Tim in my face with every chance you got since then. While up in the rocket during my state of hypoxia, I remembered at a certain point I was actually talking to you because your voice seemed to change and the fact that you commented on my state of mind due to the lack of oxygen. How would you have known that if I wasn't actually talking to you. So, I know for a fact that I told you how I felt watching you and Tim together and that you chose to be with Tim. I also told you that I loved you. I guess none of that really mattered to you at all because everyday after that both of you came into the garage, a place_ _ **we work**_ _and_ _ **place I call home**_ _, flaunted your perfect love life in from of me. Always in my line of sight. Did I hurt so bad that you despised me for it? Do you hate me that much? I may be a moron for pushing you away but I didn't expect you to be so spiteful over it. I'd always hope we could one day talk things out but I guess I was wrong about that too._

 _Two and half years ago I recall you walking out on me after shouting at me that you didn't want Ralph to become me but I didn't realized that you actually meant it. I just didn't realize how bad you really wanted "normal" back into your life. It would have been easier if you went ahead and gone to Maine to be with Drew because you were so quickly to remind me that Drew_ _ **was**_ _Ralph's_ _ **father**_ _not me. Remembering that it occurred to me that Tim is very much like Drew with the exception that Tim makes enough to support you and Ralph. If you're not aware of the comparison let me help you. Both are athletic, both of the would rather have their heads used as a target for a ball the only difference there is Drew rather have a baseball thrown at his head versus Tim's choice of a football. Lets not forget they are both "normal" intelligence. I'm sure there are other comparisons that you can list but I really don't want to know about them. The moment Tim walked into the garage was when you wanted "normal" back in your life and Tim was your lifeline to that possibility because you started to slowly change in your attitude around the garage, towards us geniuses, almost like we have become an annoyance to you._

 _You have also been constantly blaming me for every little thing that Tim and I but heads over. When he first got here he said he was trying to get back with the Navy Seals. But, when he was turned down and medically discharged from the Navy and then offered a job by someone other than_ _ **ME**_ _, Tim just decided to stay on my team, Just like that. But yet, you are the one who told him to take the job in Jordan not_ _ **me**_ _but you blamed me for his leaving. Let me remind you, I never invited him here or asked him to stay. He invited himself remember. His first day here he said he chose Scorpion for his training assignment which was a complete lie there as well because of the mission we ended up undertaking that day. You remember, the one where Cabe was taken hostage and beaten you know the same mission where he_ _ **got you shot in the back no less**_ _but I guess that doesn't really matter since he is so perfect in your eyes. Never mind that I almost had to tell Ralph why his mother did not come back from a mission that day. And come to think of it, NO one and I mean NO ONE, NOT Homeland, NOT Cabe, NOT Tim, NOT even you even considered talking to me about letting him stay on the team in the first place but you sure didn't hesitate about letting him stay even though it would have been nice to have a discussion about it considering Scorpion is mine. MY company, MY team, not YOURS. I hired you on to help me connect with normal people and I would help you with Ralph but it seemed like as soon as Tim walked in you stop doing your job. You gave up on me, you abandoned me._

 _Megan told me not to be afraid to love and the one time that I actually found the person I wanted to tell those three words too, the one person that actually got me for a change that made me realize that love was real and not junk science. You told me you loved me but you never did because I wasn't "normal" enough for you. Ever since I met you all you ever wanted for you and Ralph was normal. Now that you have finally found Your normal and the fact that you have your Mr. Normal, I have one question for you to answer: It would have been so much easier for you to let me fall to the earth with a splat into the ocean, so why didn't you let me fall? Tim was willing to let me fall. Your life would have been so much easier if not better. I wouldn't be here to mess up your perfectly normal life. So, again,_ _ **why didn't you just let me fall**_ _?_

 _By the way, even though I got a backhanded threat from Tim and Cabe pretty much said I wasn't ready but I'm guessing it was way of saying that I wasn't good enough for you and Toby told me to move on from you because you are with Tim and you definitely moved on with him, I'm going to tell you anyway the real reason why I came to Tahoe after you. It was to tell you that I loved you but you didn't want to hear that either. I hate to say it but I guess Toby is right about one thing. I need to move on may be find someone who will actually get me and accept me as the genius I am and may be able to say I love you to that person with that person actually saying them back to me and meaning it. Bye Paige._

Paige sat there with tears streaming down her face. With every word she read she cried a little harder and by the time she was finished she was sobbing uncontrollably in to someone's shoulder. She didn't know who's shoulder she was crying nor did she care. All she knew was that she never felt so miserable about herself like she did now. The only thought she had was that she destroyed the man who all but saved her and her son's life from uncertainty when she didn't have a clue as to what her son was capable of nor was she aware that he was even a genius. He had saved them both literally and figuratively. How could she deserve working here because she hasn't really helped Walter at all in the months she had been dating Tim. She never meant to shut Walter out she was just mad at him for pushing her away. She never meant to destroy him emotionally but she did.

She also never realized how much his EQ has improved until now. She just hoped she didn't destroy it completely. She's not sure if she can fix the damage that she has done but she has to try. But before she can do anything, Walter has to be found first but where to look? One thing is for certain though, she has NEVER lied to Walter about her feelings and he has to know that falling was NEVER an option for her."

 **Ralph's Note:**

" _Ralph,_

 _For starters, I am not mad or angry or upset with you in anyway whatsoever. I am sorry that you got caught up in all of this but I had to leave. I needed some space from everyone else and sorry to say I especially needed space from your Mother. Simply put, your mom and I are in a bad place right now and I think the separation will do us some good at least I am hoping so at this point in time. So, please, don't shut down on your mom. She won't deserve it. This mess is between her and I and I just don't want you to take any backward steps to that boy I met in that diner two and half years ago. So, promise me that you will keep moving forward with your mom. You both deserve the effort. Just so you know I will always and I mean always be there for you regardless to where ever your mother takes you. You will always be MY BOY no matter what and we will always be PARTNERS FOREVER. I do have a big favor to ask of you: Could you please take care of Bueller for me while I'm gone. I will come back I'm just not sure when. I scoop swear, no I double scoop swear with a pinkie promise that I am planning on coming back. LOVE YOU BUD._

 _Remember PARTNERS FOREVER._

As Ralph read his note he suddenly felt sad and alone. As he truly looked around at the rest of the cyclone, he noticed everyone seemed sad or guilty or even ashamed for some reason. Then something hit him. No matter what he wanted his Dad back. It didn't matter that Drew was there because Drew was his father no matter what because you can't change biology and Tim was just dating his mom which he secretly wished Tim never started dating her in the first place. He actually wish he would go away and get reassigned somewhere else with Homeland never to return to LA at least not for ten years or so. But Walter, Walter had always been a dad to him practically the day they met. It was Walter who told Mr. Jenosko to stop yelling at him on the day they met. He knew he had to find Walter although he didn't know how at this point but he was definitely going to try and he was going to do it on his own. The adults in this cyclone can find Walter by themselves if they want to find him at all because evidently from the looks on their faces it was their fault that Walter left in the first place.

"Mom"

Sniffling, "Yes Sweetie."

"Walter asked me to take care of Bueller for him while he is gone. Do you mind if I go upstairs and get him and his things and take him home with me?"

"No, Sweetie, we can... we can take him home. Go on upstairs and get everything you think he is going to need." Paige said barely holding her emotions in check enough to answer her son.

"Hey Ralph, do you need any help with anything?" asked Drew standing up from the couch.

"I can come up there and help too if you want Ralph." stated Veronica.

"Maybe come up here and get Bueller and his cage and carry it downstairs while I get his food, his bed from Walter's desk and some toys." stated Ralph from the top of the stairs. "Oh and Grandma could you please take Dad and me home as soon as we get everything ready? Oh, and Grandma, thanks for helping."

"Your welcome Ralph. Now lets go and get everything ready so we can go. OK." said Veronica who seemed worried about Ralph all of a sudden because he did seem upset but was trying awful hard to hide it from everyone.

Paige realized that Ralph had almost ran up the stairs to get away from everyone. No matter how may times Drew came and went or how many times they had dropped Tim off at the airport, Walter was always the one who got an emotional response from Ralph. Then it actually occurred to Paige as to why. Ralph doesn't look at Walter as a mentor he looks at Walter as a Dad and then silent tears just started flowing on their own accord all over again.

As Ralph and Drew and Veronica went upstairs to collect Bueller and his things Toby spoke up.

"Look, I don't know what Walter wrote to you in your individual letters and from everyone's body language, they weren't good either. But first thing is first, we need to find Walter. So, who's with me?"

Everyone quickly agreed including a very reluctant Tim but the one major question still hanged in the air. Where to look first?


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates**

 **Again I like to thank everyone for all of the great reviews and the encouragement to continue. Thank you .**

 **Note: I'm just going to put this out there, first and foremost, I am not trying to disrespect any branch of the military. I hold all who serves any branch of the military in the highest of honors and a big THANK YOU for your service to our country. The reason I am putting this out there is because I was trying to portray an angry Paige and I could not think of any other word(s) to use the describe a Navy Seal who is under someone else's command. If there is an alternative word please let me know and I will be more than happy to edit that section providing it is appropriate. You will know it when you read it. Also, Tissue Alert. Hope you enjoy Chapter 4.**

Chapter 4: Coming to Terms

While Ralph, Veronica and Drew were upstairs gathering up Bueller and his things, the team was gathered around the table beginning to discuss on where to begin their search for Walter.

"Before we start wasting our time on looking for Walter, why don't you guys just wait for him to return. He did say he was coming back and to use Walter's famous words, 'He only states facts,' right? So, lets wait until he returns on his own. He has probably went off somewhere to throw a tantrum or something because he can't seem to get what he wants."

Everyone looked at Tim with a wide-eyed look like they just couldn't believe what Tim had just said.

"Look, we all know you don't know Walter like the rest of us but like it or not, we really need to locate him. We also know you two have issues because you don't like knowing the fact that Walter is in love with Paige. The entire team heard him say it over the coms remember, "the reason I came to Tahoe is to tell you I LOVE YOU." You and I both know that fact did not sit well with you because you came back over the com with a rather backhanded threat regarding a little talk you wanted to have with Walter over that revelation. Now, what you don't realize is Walter is on an EQ overload and he can act rather reckless and could be in a rather precarious situation at this time. That is the reason we need to find Walter if anything just to make sure he is ok." explained Toby.

"Fine, well, if I'm not needed then I'm gone because Walter already stated he was coming back and from the sound of the note he was of a clear mind. I am only hear until after the beginning of the year and I'm not going to waste it looking for Walter." without turning to look at Paige, "Lets go Paige. **We** **are** **leaving,** your mother can take your ex back to the apartment and Ralph can choose either to come with us or go home with them either way it doesn't matter to me but we are leaving to spend the rest of this holiday together like we talk about last night." said an agitated Tim, with that he stormed out of the garage.

Paige was already under some emotional stress from reading Walter's note. Now, she has Tim ordering her around. Paige told everyone at the table that she will be back and to tell Ralph to wait inside until she comes back in. With an Ok, the team watched with astonishment as Paige walked out of the garage following Tim.

Walking outside, Tim had already unlocked the car doors and opened the door for her. Paige stopped short of the car and looked angrily at Tim. Turning around and looking back at Paige,

Tim asked, "What's wrong with you? What have I done to you to be mad at me for? I'm not the one who ran away to throw a tantrum somewhere."

"What am I mad at you over?" Where do I start Tim?" Paige practically yelled at him. "Lets see, um, lets start with the fact that **you** knew the real reason why Walter came to Tahoe, you knew Walter was in love with me and you kept it a secret all of this time. Not only did Walter state that little tidbit of information in my note but he also stated the fact that you threatened him if he ever told me. What was that about? Huh, what were you doing regressing back to your days of being a bully. Is that the role model you going to portray to Ralph? Well, that is never going to happen.

Now, on to the other problem that came out of no where. I'm going to make this plain and clear and straight to the point Mr. Timothy Armstrong. "YOU DO NOT EVER ORDER ME AROUND AGAIN. You got that. I am not one of your little Navy peons that you can order about on a whim or because you want too. Now with that being said if you don't want to help find Walter that's your choice. You've already made last night officially your last day anyway. Go spend the last few days with your family since you will be gone for eight months. If what I said isn't clear enough, I'll make it very clear for you. Whether you like it or not I nor Ralph are not leaving with you. We are staying right here and help locate Walter. One more thing, if I had to be perfectly honest with myself, I just can't bring myself to love you. My heart just won't let me. You asked me in Tahoe if there was anything holding me back in LA. I said no because I felt I would never win Walter's heart and I was trying to move on but I have been doing nothing but struggling the whole time. As hard as I tried to moved forward with you the more difficult it became to be with you because as hard as I tried to deny it I can't anymore and I'm not going too. I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that I have been in love with Walter for over two and half years now and I've never looked him in the eye and told him that and maybe I need too. Whether it helps patch things up, I don't know but I owe it to Ralph to try. Goodbye Tim."

Paige turned around to head back inside the garage when Tim called back to her and stopped her in her tracks.

"I'm sorry Paige but, can we talk about this. Maybe later after we both calm down. I don't want this relationship to end. You know I get you better than Walter ever could. We are alike you and me and I really want us to work. So, please, can we meet somewhere to talk say around 7:00 tonight at Kovelsky's for coffee. Just you and me so we can talk this over?" pleaded a deflated Tim.

Without turning around Paige, a little calmer, replied with a no. Then turning around to face Tim Paige explained "I don't know when or if we will find him today and knowing you kept that secret all these months from me, I can't help but think what else you've been keeping from me not to mention I've already been down that road with Drew and you see how that ended. I'm sorry Tim, but we are **done**." Turning back around, Paige called back "Oh and Tim, try to have a Merry Christmas and Goodbye and be safe in Jordan ok.", with that Paige walked back into the garage leaving Tim standing by his car confused on what just actually happen and how he lost Paige to someone like Walter.

Everyone looking at each other in astonishment and surprised that Paige followed Tim out of the garage after being ordered to do so was left speechless. They thought Paige would stand up to anyone who tried ordering her around like that but apparently they were wrong. As the team sat there pondering Paige's action they heard the trio coming out of the loft.

"Ok Ralph, not to make you do all of the work here but your Grandma and I will stay here at the table and you can bring everything here. We would help but we don't know where everything is at and it would be quicker if you brought it to us and then we can take everything to the car, ok."

"Ok Dad. And your right, it would be more efficient if I just get everything. Just wait here and I'll get Bueller and his cage."

Ralph exited to get Bueller and his things and bring them back to the dining table. He handed Bueller to his grandmother then went back to retrieve his cage, toys, and food. After placing Bueller back in his cage, Veronica and Drew turned to go downstairs and asked Ralph if he needed to get anything else while they were up here. Ralph stated that he still needed to get his bed from Walter's desk. Both adults nodded their oks and waited while Ralph went to Walter's desk to get the bed. After approaching the desk, Ralph looked at it wondering why Walter would leave like this. What happen that was so bad that he would leave without warning without a goodbye. He new that somehow someway that he had to find Walter and try to help patch things up between him and his mother if that could be possible. He knows Walter said not to be mad at his mother over this because all of it wasn't her fault, therefore, some of it was Walter's as well but he couldn't help but be mad at his mother more. Reaching over to pick up the bed something occurred to Ralph that gave him some hope that things could go back to the way things were if not hopefully something close to it. Picking up the bed, he went back to the two waiting adults and all three proceeded to go downstairs when they heard the garage door open up. For a split second Ralph face lit up hoping Walter had come back home but then he kind of felt disappointed when it was just his mother coming in from outside.

"Paige, honey what wrong?" ask Veronica

"Nothing, just saying bye to Tim and trying to get through a very long and very stressful Christmas Day is all." stated Paige, and mumbling more to herself, "This is got to be the worst Christmas that I can ever remember."

"Not that we can do much but do you need us here for anything, moral support or whatever."

"No Drew, but thanks anyway. Why don't you guys go on back to the apartment. I will be there as soon as I can and I **will call and check** upon on you guys, **trust** **me**." Paige said with a guarded tone in her voice.

"Where did Tim go by the way? Why isn't he here to help find Walter?"

"Mom, Tim is gone and I don't want to discuss him at this point. What I do want is to start trying to brainstorm on where to start looking for Walter. Hey, Ralph, ruffling her son's hair,and thought she imagine her son pulling away from her ever so slightly, do you have a clue as to where to begin looking for Walter? Maybe you can hack into his laptop and get something that may help us out. What do you say, up for the challenge? Want to give it a shot?" asked Paige.

"No." said Ralph.

Upon hearing Ralph's reply, everyone stood there in stunned silence. Everyone who knew the the bond that Ralph and Walter shared from day one was strong but they didn't expect that answer from Ralph. Not sure who was the most shocked by Ralph's answer but Paige was certainly at the top of the list.

"Why not honey? Don't you want to help bring Walter back home?" asked an extremely shocked Paige.

"Yes, most definitely but I'm not the one who he is mad at. Its all of you he is mad at, especially you mom. You guys are the one who made him leave, so you guys need to be the ones to find him not me. I'm not sure what you did to him besides date Tim but you need to fix it if it can be if you haven't shattered it beyond recognition. In my note, Walter said he needed space from everyone especially mom. He also asked me not to be mad at you mom but right now I can't help it. Look, I know Drew is my father and you can't change biology and Tim may be this great guy but he isn't the right fit for me as a step-dad but Walter, like it or not, and sorry for saying this dad but Walter has been a Dad to me since the day we met. For three years he has always been there for me and accepted me and understood me right from the beginning. If it wasn't for him, you nor dad here would have never known I was a genius let alone be able to connect with me. You two would still think I was this developmentally delayed/ mentally challenged kid. I'm not sure what your part in all of this is but all of you needs to be the one to find my Dad. Three out of five of you are geniuses, so there is enough brain power to look for Walter without the help of this 12 year old genius." Ralph said defiantly, "Grandma, if you and Dad are ready, then I am ready to go as well."

As Ralph, Drew, and Veronica turned to leave an emotional Paige reached out to give her son a hug and the worst thing that could yet happen that day happened. Ralph pulled away from her touch. Something he really hasn't done in three years. Paige just felt like she lost everything at this point, with that the trio left the garage. Now she had no doubt in her mind that she had to do everything in her power to find Walter and try to make amends with him the best she could at this point because she knows finding Walter would be the only way to get her son back.

Paige turned around to the other four members of the team and asked, "What do we have?" Where do we start? All the while thinking to herself 'this **is** the worst Christmas ever.

Landing at his final destination stop, Walter was sitting at a small table staring at a cup of coffee thinking on whether or not to move forward with whatever he was doing at his point. After arriving at the airport and going through all of the security checkpoints he began to think he made a mistake but then again maybe a few days here would do him some good. He still has a lot of emotional baggage he needs to deal with right now and for some strange reason this is the place where he needs to be to get rid of the excess baggage and begin to heal from years of hurt and frustration. He now knows he needs to find acceptance and for some reason it begins here.

Thinking about the trip here, he was fairly certain that he sat beside an air marshal the whole trip over here. The first leg of the trip the person sitting next to him kept asking question after question and Walter was already in an agitated state since leaving the garage. Walter pretty much kept to himself and answered chosen questions just to try to get him to shut up, he in turned asked him questions that he knew he couldn't answer or talked about subjects well above his intelligence. The second leg of the trip, he had the same thing but this time he had calm down considerably compared to when he left the garage back in LA. But then that particular air marshal asked the question that broke the proverbial camel's back, Walter then unloaded all his emotional baggage on him about Paige leaving him and then possibly taking his son away from him. He ranted at him to the point that the air marshal offered to buy Walter a drink saying he definitely needed it maybe more. By the time Walter was finished, the air marshal had a look on his face that he wished he never started talking to Walter much less asking him if he had a wife or girlfriend or had any children. He wished he'd left him alone. The air marshal also didn't speak to Walter for the rest of the trip, which was perfectly fine with Walter.

Getting up from the table and grabbing his bag he went to the rental car desk to get his car so he can get started on the last leg of his trip. While standing in line he took out his phone and sent a quick text then put his phone back in his bag. It was approximately 3:00p by the time he got on the road. After about a two hour drive and one stop at a convenient store where he picked up a few things and something to eat he pulled into the driveway leading up to the house. After bringing the car to a stop, he just sat there looking at it thinking that this could be home for a while. Who knows, this maybe his permanent home. Getting out of the car he went to unlock the door then proceeded to carry his travel bag and groceries inside. He went ahead and put everything up and then sat on the couch and tried to make sense of the last twenty-four hours. His main thought was to whether or not to continue Scorpion and if so can he continue it with her sitting not five feet away from him everyday? He wasn't sure on what to do and had no idea on how to handle this problem or who to talk to about the problem itself. Maybe a good night's sleep and change of scenery will help bring some prospective to his state of mind and maybe help look at his problems from a different point of view.

Back at the garage:

"Ok, guys, where are we on finding Walter?" asked Paige.

"No where." stated Happy.

"No where, what have you been doing while I was outside with Tim?" asked a frustrated Paige.

"Well, you did leave us in a state of shocked when Timbo **ordered** you to follow him out of the garage and you complied." stated Toby.

"Oh, well, believe me that won't happen again. After I went outside I gave Tim a piece of my mind about his actions in here and then broke up with him. I broke up with him because if he thinks he can order me around like someone under his command he is completely wrong. I told him in so many words that I was not his to command and I did not like the idea that he kept a secret on why Walter came to Tahoe and the fact that he all but bullied and threatened Walter if Walter ever told me how he felt about me. I told him we were done. And one more thing, don't think I'm going to let it slide about what you—Toby and Cabe—had said to Walter about telling him not to talk to me about his feelings, think again. For now, that dicussion is tabled because the most important thing right now is finding Walter. Now lets start looking for him, OK." said Paige.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates**

 **Again I like to thank everyone for all of the great reviews and the encouragement to continue. Thank you .**

Chapter 5: Looking for Walter Part 1

"Ok, then lets get start by..."

Interrupting Toby, "Hold on, I have a suggestion to make." stated Cabe. "Look, I know each of us wants to find Walter, if for no other reason than to make sure he is alive and well and most definitely uninjured. But, this is still Christmas Day and we still have a 12 year genius we need to consider. Right now, there is no doubt he is thinking the only thing he wants for Christmas is for Walter to walk through that door or through the door of that condo and something tells me that isn't going to happen today. But, what we can do it try to make this Christmas as normal as we can make it and try to savage what is left of it. I don't think for a minute that Walter tried to ruin our Christmas but as a matter of fact we probably ruin his more. He has been trying to improve his EQ but we have done nothing to help it. I know I haven't, I don't know about the rest of you. So, my suggestion is Paige, you go ahead and start the Christmas dinner. It doesn't have to be the full course meal that you had planned if you don't want too and I will help the best I can. As a matter of fact, each of us can take turns in helping you with dinner and when it is finished we can load everything up and take it over to your place and have dinner there with Ralph, Drew, and Veronica. The rest of will begin our search for Walter. Is that ok with everyone?" suggested Cabe.

Everyone except Paige agreed.

"No." said Paige. Why are you guys leaving me out of this all of a sudden? Is it because I was dating Tim or because my relationship with Walter became so estranged that it led up to this point? Are you guys blaming me for all of this because Ralph most certainly is? Is it because I am not a genius? Why am I getting shoved to the side all of a sudden? Why?" asked Paige, who by this point was becoming very emotional.

"No to all of your questions." stated Toby. "You getting shoved to the side as you put it has nothing to do with you dating Tim, or your current relationship to Walter or nothing at all that you've asked. You are being shoved to the kitchen—I think I can speak for three genius and one federal agent when I say this—you are the genius in the kitchen. You cook better than we do. So, if we want to try to savage what is left of this not-so-Merry Christmas Day, we need your genius cooking skills in the kitchen. If for nothing else, at least we will have a better meal than what we can cook up." said Toby.

Not fully believing what Toby said to her, she did understand that her cooking skills are way better than theirs. She has tried eating their cooking, though it was edible, it still needed some serious help.

"Ok, I'll start dinner but if I can be of any use, you guys better holler for me. GOT IT." said Paige.

"Got it," said the rest of the team members simultaneously. If necessary, she thought, she can use the oven upstairs in the loft but suddenly thinking against it because she felt she would be intruding on Walter's personal space. She felt like she had no right to be up there now.

As Paige turned to head towards the kitchen, "Hey, Paige." Toby called suddenly.

Turning around to face Toby, "Yes."

"Do you have a problem, if I read your note that Walter left for you. I'm wanting everyone's permission so I can profile Walt's state of mind and perhaps there is a chance he may have dropped a clue as to where he might have gone too."

"Oh, yea, sure you can but only you. What he put in there was rather personal. Hurtful and truthful, but none the less personal."

"Understood." said Toby. With that Toby sauntered back to the table.

"Ok, guys. Lets divvy up some things here." stated Cabe. "Toby you go through everyone's notes, if there are no objections from anyone, and see if you can get anything from them. Sly, you see about hacking into Walt's phone, computer, and credit cards. See if there is some kind of trail as to where he may have gone and good luck there..."

"I'll try but you do know this will take awhile considering it is Walter I'm trying to hack here. It sure would be a lot easier if Ralph was here to help with this one. Still, I'll need all of the luck I can get no matter if luck is real or not."

"...Happy, check our security cameras and see if he left on his own accord or was taken by force. I am going to go check out his car and then his loft. He may have left something that would give us an idea on where he might have gone."

"Um, what do you want me to do in between making dinner?" asked Paige.

"None that I can think of right off. We'll call you if we need you." stated Cabe.

Everyone nodded and went to their respective workstations to begin working on their assigned task at hand. Cabe went out to Walter's car to check it out when he realize Paige had followed him and she had tears in her eyes.

Trying to console Paige, "Hey, don't worry so much. Walter's a smart kid and I am sure that he is ok. We will find him."

"I know but I just can't help but think that I am being left out on purpose. Almost like I'm being kicked off the team. I know I haven't been doing my job well in the last few months by understanding and helping them like I use too especially Walter. It also doesn't help that Walter and I have been pretty much estranged since Tahoe but when you assigned me to the kitchen to start working on Christmas Dinner, it almost felt like I was being punished."

"Paige, me assigning you to kitchen duty wasn't punishment. You and I both know how these guys are. They get so focused on what they are doing that they forget to eat. Ralph, well, he's another story. His whole world has been turned upside down and still having Christmas dinner is a way to try to keep the "norm" going on for him. Now, he may think we don't care by continuing to have dinner and trying to have a "normal" Christmas but its the best we can do for each other. Then afterwards, we can resume our search for Walter. So, no, assigning you to chef duties is not punishment or keeping you out of the loop. Its me trying to keep the norm."

"Thanks Cabe." said Paige. With that, she walked back inside to begin dinner preparations while Cabe begin his searched on Walter's car for anything that might help find him sooner.

Cabe searched everywhere and everything in Walter's car. He found nothing to indicate where he may have taken off too. He searched the trunk and turned up the same thing. NOTHING. Cabe then started looking around the alley and walked around to the front of the building in hoping to find something anything to indicate Walter's whereabouts. Closing the door behind him, "I've got nothing. I've searched Walter's car, trunk, and everywhere I can think of in the alley all the way up to the front of the building. I'm going to go upstairs and search the loft to see if I can find anything up there. You guys come up with anything yet?"

"Not yet Cabe." said Sylvester, "But then again, your not the ones assigned the most impossible task. Hacking into Walter's computer which is virtually impossible."

"Well, according to these notes he left us, Walt is pretty well pissed at all of us for the most part with the exception of Happy over here. Ralph didn't leave his note so I don't know what is in his but he did state in a matter of fact way that Walter was not mad at him, just us. Walt is just disappointed in Happy over here. But reading the rest of the notes and comparing Sly's, Paige's, Tim's, Yours and Mine, Walter has the right to be mad at us. We, (indicating everyone in the room and Tim), we didn't help at all to try to settle things between him and Paige. By not doing anything, we thought things would work themselves out and Walter would just accept the facts as they are and move on. For us, we were on the outside looking in, it apparently look like he has, but instead he kept repressing and repressing his feelings for Paige to the point after everything that happened at the cabin yesterday including Ralph being kidnapped and by us leaving him alone, he just snapped. As far as the rocket is concern, someone may have said something or done something that could have triggered that memory or something may have happened without none of us realizing it at the time could have also triggered that particular part of his brain."

"Hey, Toby," Paige had walked back in the office area and was leaning up against her desk. "I just occurred to me that rocket that my mom gave Ralph for Christmas, you know the one that we used to launch at one of the gunrunners yesterday, could that have triggered anything?", asked Paige.

"It could have, because in the team note he did say he thought about everything that happened throughout the day so that toy rocket could have been the trigger for it all."

"Great, just great, My Mother ended up being the catalyst of his whole miserable day."

"NO, Paige. Your Mother may have given the toy rocket to Ralph for Christmas but NONE of this is her fault. She wasn't here when Walter was launched into space and that toy was just suppose to be a gift to her grandson that she has just met. So, NO. you do not get to blame all of this on her. If anyone is to blame then you blame all of us including Tim but not your Mother."

"Ok fair enough. We are to blame but how do we fix this?"

"I don't know Paige, I just don't know how to begin to fix this much less where to start."

"Before I go upstairs to start searching, Happy you have any good news to offer?" asked Cabe.

"Not sure, I've been looking at our security cameras that I have strategically placed around the perimeter of the garage, Walter walked out of the door at 5:55pm and walked down the sidewalk and appeared willingly to get into a car. Considering Walter knew where all of the cameras were at he could easily avoid them. He could have called for a pick up and requested to be picked up there just out of camera view. I can't tell if it was a cab or an Uber nor can I make out the license plate either. So good news is Walter apparently left on his own accord hopefully ruling out kidnapping. Bad news is I can't get a make, model, or license plate number to go on."

"Did the car move forward or was in camera view at anytime?" asked Cabe.

"No but you know that is the odd thing because it does seem kind of weird that the camera missed the car coming or going. I'm going to go take a physical look at that camera."

"Ok Happy but be careful. I'm going to go on upstairs to search Walter's loft to see if I can come up with anything." stated Cabe.

"I'll keep trying to hack his computer." said Sylvester.

"I'll keep going over these notes and see what I can come up with." said Toby.

Noticing Paige had gone back towards the kitchen, Toby began thinking about how everyone but Paige was given some menial task to help find Walter. So Toby strolled into the kitchen and was surprised at what he found.

"Hey, Paige, do you need any help in here making dinner?" asked Toby walking up to Paige.

"No." said a very emotional and tearful Paige.

"Look, for starters, we are all worried for Walter and as long as I've know him he has never done this before but we will find him. ALIVE. Ok."

"I know Toby. I just can't help but blame myself for most of this . He tried to tell me something more than once while we were at that government building and looking back I'm guessing he was trying to tell me he loved me. The first time he tried to telling me, we had a missile shot at us, so therefore a reasonable interruption, then he tried again outside but I was already angry with him for showing up in Tahoe to begin with. And then when I found out the childish sabotaging he did after he was the one who sent me there with Tim. I just didn't want to listen to him anymore and sad to say I stopped listening altogether. I shut him out Toby. I know he has tried to make up for what he has done but I closed everything every part of me off to him. All I became to him was his employee. Then when the rocket incident happened and I was trying to get him to pull the lever, he fell as though he was in pain and I told him it was due to the lack oxygen but he said that his pain was from watching me with Tim and the fact that I chose Tim over him. That was when he told me he loved me. Yet after all of that was said I still continued my involvement with Tim and having personal contact with Tim in front of him. I shouldn't have let it get that far. I should never have brought my personal relationship with Tim in the office after that. I acted so unprofessional that I feel like I single-handedly destroyed Scorpion because I destroyed Walter emotionally. I wouldn't be surprised if he never trusted me or anyone else for that matter at least not with his heart ever again. You know what the funny thing is, it NEVER once bothered me that he was ever married to Happy. I believed him when he said that marriage wasn't real and it was only on paper. I believed him with all of my heart and it never once felt like betrayal to me. Not once.", said Paige through all of her tears.

Toby sat there not knowing what to say to comfort her right then. So, he just got up and gave her a hug and let her cry on his shoulder for as long as she needed to at that point in time. Unbeknownst to them, Happy, Sylvester, and Cabe had entered the kitchen to see if she needed help with anything. Some how they ended in a group hug.

Walter debated whether or not to stay up late to fight the effects of jet lag or just go on to bed. While deciding, the debate was ended by the growl of his stomach. That being the deciding factor he went in to look at his selection of groceries considering the lack of selection at the convenient store. Walter had mostly bought what Paige would have referred to as junk food so Walter decided on Ireland's version of mac-n-cheese for his Christmas meal this year. After unpacking his pots and pans and a few dishes and cleaning them up he made his dinner. While that was cooking he began loading the dishwasher with the remaining stuff that needed to be cleaned before using and started the dishwasher and then finished his mac-n-cheese.

While eating his dinner, he looked at his phone for the time, it read 6:50 pm. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't realize how much time had passed. He sat there and thought about how Scorpion would run if Paige wasn't there. He decided that Scorpion would run just fine without her if she decided to leave because in a since she has only been there physically to him for months. Anyone can come in and do the paperwork and do office errand and keep up with the other daily office duties if she decided to join Tim in Jordan thus taking Ralph completely away from him. The thought actually made him sick to his stomach just thinking about it. As much as he dreaded that thought he knew there was at least a 90% chance of Paige doing that to him at this point. Either with her there working or moving away he has got to figure out how to work without her as his partner, sadly that is the hard part.

While pondering all possible solutions to keep Scorpion from imploding on itself there was an unexpected knock on the door. Looking confused, mainly because no one knew he had bought the house with the exception of the realtor who sold him the house much less the fact that he told no one that he was even coming here in the first place. He got up to go answer the door and upon opening the door he was surprised to see the Garda there.

"Hello, may I help you?" asked Walter.

"Hello, Merry Christmas. My name is Officer Ian Doogin. I've been patrolling this area for the last couple of months and this is the first time I've seen a car here? Just thought I'd stop in and check on things is all."

"Oh, um...I just came back today. My name is Walter O'Brien. I bought this place about three months ago. The last time I was here which was on Pattern's Day to honor my sister Megan's death. If it helps, I have all the paperwork if you want to see it. Sorry, but you can come in where it's warm if you like?"

"Thank you...", stepping inside, "...and yes, I would like to see those papers if you don't mind. And please, just keep in mind that I am just doing my job here."

"No, that's ok, I understand. Just let me run upstairs and get those papers."

"Ok , I'll just wait here."

Going upstairs, Walter went to his bedroom and grabbed all necessary paperwork including the realtor's business card and went directly back downstairs. The Garda was standing next to the front door with his right hand resting on his service weapon. When Walter came back downstairs, he handed all of the paperwork to Officer Doogin.

Looking at the business card, Officer Doogin asked, "Do you mind if I call this realtor?"

"No. Do whatever you need to do."

Stepping outside, Officer Doogin took out his phone to make the phone call to Ms. Callaghan.

"Hello."

"Ms. Callaghan?"

"Yes."

"This is Officer Ian Doogin. How are you this evening? Merry Christmas by the way."

"I'm well, thank you. Merry Christmas to you as well. Is everything ok?"

"Yes, everything appears to be but what I am calling for and I do apologize for calling on this day but do you know a Walter Patrick O'Brien? He says he bought this house back in September on Pattern's Day which was to honor his sister, Megan O'Brien-Dodd's death."

"Yes. He did."

"I hate to ask but could you come to 27 Blackrock Road to make a positive identification. Please. Just to be on the safe side and make sure he is the one who suppose to be here."

"Yes, I can do that. I can be there in say about thirty minutes."

"Ok, that would be great. Thank you Ms. Callaghan.

"Not a problem Officer Doogin. It is always good to be on the safe side of things and thank you for looking out for my properties and making sure everything is secured."

"Your welcome and see you soon."

Hanging up and walking back in the house, he found Walter in the kitchen making a pot of coffee and taking some coffee cups out of the dishwasher.

"I called Ms. Callaghan and she said she will be over here in the next thirty minutes. Hope you don't mind. Like I said earlier, just doing my job you know."

"No, I don't mind. Besides it saves me time on sending her an email tomorrow. Its efficient. While we wait, would you like some coffee?

Giving Walter a strange look all Doogin could say was "ok, sure. I'll take a cup of coffee.

Thirty minutes later Ms. Callaghan arrived at Walter's house and identified Walter as being the actual owner of the residence. The three of them sat around talking for another thirty minutes when both Ms. Callaghan and Officer Doogin said their goodbyes and all Walter could think about is taking a shower and going to bed. When he looked at the clock it was 9:00pm and he already knew he was more and likely going to have a long day tomorrow.

After Paige's major melt down, everyone put their search for Walter aside and helped Paige prepare Christmas dinner. As soon as the ham was finished everyone loaded up their cars with food and extra dishes and chairs and gifts and left for Paige's condo. As they were pulling our of the parking lot, Paige called her mom to let her know that they were coming back to the condo with dinner and ask her if she would go head and turn the oven on so it would be heated up by the time they got there so they could finish dinner. She was also going to ask Drew how Ralph was doing?

"Hi, Mom, We are on our way over with dinner, I was calling to ask if you would turn the oven on so it would be heated up by the time we get there. We are pulling out of the parking lot now.

"Oh, hi honey. Yes I can turn the oven on. Any luck on finding Walter?"

"No. Hey can I talk to Drew?"

"Yes, honey you can. Hold on."

"Hey Paige, how is the search going?"

"Not good, but we halted the search to prepare dinner. We are on our way over there with it now. When we get there we are going to finish dinner and open gifts. We are wanting to try to salvage Christmas for Ralph. In your opinion how is he doing?

"Depressed. He sat out here for a little while and played video games but then he decided to go to his room so he can work on making Ferret Bueller at home. I've checked on him a few times to see if he wanted anything to eat but he really wouldn't respond to me. It was similar to when we were first reintroduced to each other three years ago. Its kind of scary if you ask me."

"Ok. I'll try to talk to him when I get home."

"Ok. Oh by the way, your mother has made several attempts and she has had no luck and she just seems worried."

"Ok. We will be see you guys in a few minutes."

"Ok."

Hanging up and handing Veronica back her phone, Drew went into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. He told Veronica that the team will be there in a few minutes and Paige said she will try to talk to Ralph. Since Veronica has never seen Ralph in this state and Drew hadn't seen Ralph like this since he first came back, both adults were worried about him and silently hoped that Paige could make things right. They were both asking for a Christmas miracle at this point.

Ralph sat out in the living room for about two hours and played games with his father. Deciding that was long enough he made the excuse of taking Bueller back to his room and getting him settled in his new temporary home because he knows Walter will be coming back home. He SCOOPED SWORE so he had too. The thing is that he just didn't know when his dad was coming back home. Ralph also knew something that no one else knew about 'his HOPE'. When Ralph had picked up Bueller's bed he found a hidden treasure Walter had left for him. A burner phone and it had one text message on it. 'I'm ok. Scoop'. Now all he has to do is figure out how to find Walter. So, after getting Bueller settled he immediately started typing a program up to help find Walter. Ralph was sitting on his bed working on his project when there was a knock on the door.

"Honey, are you ok."

"Yes, Mom, I'm fine. Have you guys found Walter yet?

"No, not yet. To be honest we started looking but then I ended up with a major melt down especially after I was banned to the kitchen. After I got through with my melt down, Cabe, Sylvester, Happy, and Toby all chipped in and helped prepare Christmas dinner. We wanted to try to salvage some of this day for you. Honey, I know you are mad at me and blame me for Walter's leaving and I am blaming myself too. But I promise, scoop swear promise, that we will find him and get him to come back home. Ok."

"I know your trying Mom. I do blame you for this, but I'm not blaming you for all of it just some of it. The looks on the rest of the cyclone's faces said they deserve some of that blame too. Walter even indicated that he was at fault for some things as well but he isn't at fault for everything Mom. One question though, I'm sure Tim is responsible for some of the blame too, so why isn't he here helping to try to find Dad?

Noticing Ralph's choice in the word 'Dad' she was inwardly smiling to herself before answering. "Tim chose not to help find Walter. He believes that Walter is off throwing a tantrum somewhere, but don't worry about Tim. He isn't coming back. We broke up this morning."

"Why?"

"Because of the way he was acting. He started ordering me around and you in a round about way. Not to mention the way he was talking about Walter. I mainly broke up with him because he got angry about the whole situation and started to order me around and the attitude he was having. I felt that if he is going to act like that now, what will he be like a few months from now if I let him get away with it during this situation. Another reason a-and a-as hard..as hard as I tried I just couldn't love him. My heart just wasn't going to let me be in a relationship with him and to be perfectly honest I love Walter and you both with all of my heart. I've just never looked Walter in the eyes and told him."

"Well, if you never told Walter you love him, then how would he know. If you can't bring yourself to tell Walter how you feel then how do you expect him to tell you how he feels especially since you stopped accepting him for being him? If you really do love Walter, then why settle for normal like Tim?

"I'm still trying to figure that out. After dinner, how about you reconsider about helping the team in finding Walter, huh?"

"I don't know. I'm still pretty upset with everyone and I still think you guys should still be the ones to find him on your own."

"Ok, honey. I'll respect your decision. Oh, by the way, Toby will probably ask you for your note, but that is completely your decision to make. Ok."

"Ok mom."

"I need to go out there and help finish up dinner so we can eat. We may also go back to the garage to come up with a plan of action to find Walter and I may be there all night. Will that be ok with you or I can stay home if you want me too? I'll be wherever you need be to right now."

"No, its ok, the sooner you guys find Walter the sooner we can get him back home."

"Ok, If nothing else we will begin looking for your _dad_ as soon as we can." smiling for what seemed like the first time today Paige leaned over and kissed her son on the forehead and got up from the edge of the bed and then Ralph gave her the best Christmas gift he could have given her all day. For the first time since arriving at the garage this morning, Ralph had a big wide grin on his face.

"Ok Mom, and Mom, I love you."

Trying not to cry but couldn't help that one tear that escaped her left eye, she said "I love you too baby. I love you too.", with that Paige exited Ralph's bedroom.

That big wide grin that lit Ralph's face made her feel a whole lot better than she did just three hours ago. When Paige walked into her kitchen she saw everyone busy trying to get dinner finished up so they could go back searching for Walter.

"Paige, honey, if you don't mind, would it be ok if I stayed here tonight. I'm just worried about Ralph and I know from listening to the rest of the team that you are going back to the garage tonight to begin searching for Walter and I just feel that I need to be here for my grandson while you're busy looking for my future son-in-law/Ralph's step-dad. There I really did say that, so get over it."

"Mom, first, yes you can stay here tonight with Ralph and Drew but promise me you will be on your best behavior and don't cause any unnecessary stress on Ralph and Drew and especially no problems. Secondly, don't get your hopes set on Walter and me getting together anytime soon. As bad as I feel like I hurt him, he would probably look for a plausible excuse to fire me. So, don't marry us off too soon ok. Even if we remain colleagues, there is still a lot of things that needs patching up in order for us to go back to being friends much less anything else. Now, I need your promise and I mean a Scoop Swear Promise that YOU will behave yourself."

"OK but before I do that, I have one question for you."

"Which is?"

"What is a Scoop Swear Promise?

Not hearing Ralph come out of his room for the first time in hours, "That is the strongest promise you can make. If you break that promise you not only have to buy the person you made the promise too a scoop of ice cream but in your case it will be extremely hard, with an infinite exponential number at that, to ever trust you again.

"OH." stated Veronica, getting the gist of what Ralph meant by that, she then stated, "I Scoop Swear Promise that I would stake my reputation and relationship with my grandson over it. How was that? Does that last part make it even stronger?

"I'll take it." said Ralph.

Paige just stood there smiling at her son and shaking her head at the both of them.

Soon after dinner was ready and the table was set, everyone was in a rather somber mood because they were all missing the same person and it just didn't feel like a real Christmas this year. Soon after everyone had eaten their fair share of dinner and food was divided up between the condo and the garage, the whole team pitched in and cleaned up dishes and put everything where they could load the cars back up in an efficient manner. Everyone even chose to wait until they found Walter and he was sitting in front of them before they would open gifts. It just didn't feel right opening them up without their top genius present.

After telling Ralph and Drew bye everyone including Veronica exited to the garage. Before exiting the condo, Ralph was asked by Toby if he could get his note from Walter or if nothing else look at it real quick to see if there was anything in there that would help in their search. Ralph thought about it and showed Toby the note but would not let him take it with him. He was also asked if he had changed his mind about helping and Ralph told the team no again. It wasn't that he didn't want too it was just the principle behind him helping them when they are the ones who messed up with Walter and he thought they should be the ones to take the time and effort to find him and apologize and bring him back home. He just didn't mention the project that he was working on by himself to use to look for Walter. He didn't think they needed to know about that.

After arriving at the garage, everything was taken back in and put its appropriate place, Veronica went the Air Stream to get her an overnight bag ready so she could go back to the condo for the rest of the evening while Happy, Toby, Sylvester, and Paige went to their respective workstations to work on finding Walter. Cabe went upstairs to do a search of Walter's loft.

Coming back downstairs, Cabe announced that his search turned up empty. "Hey, Paige, I know Ralph said he wasn't going to help find Walter but do you think he would answer a few questions since he was up in loft earlier today when he was gathering up Bueller and his things to take back to the condo with them?"

"I don't see why not but all I can say is call him and ask. He can't do no more than tell you no on the helping part of it."

"True." with that Cabe pulled out his phone and called Ralph.

"Hello."

"Hey, Ralph, look I respect the fact that you do not want to help but would you answer some questions for me?"

"Sure Cabe, what do you want to ask?"

"When you were upstairs in the loft earlier did you notice anything out of place or out of the ordinary that you may have moved back without thinking anything of it? I'm just looking for anything that may have indicated where Walter may have went off too. I'm fairly certain that he went willingly by I'm also making sure he left willingly also."

"Nothing seemed out of place when I was up there. Everything I needed for Bueller was in its regular spot even Bueller's bed. I even stood by Walter's desk for a couple of minutes looking at it and wondering where he would have gone too and why he left but I didn't see anything out of place. I just picked up Bueller's bedding and all three of us came back downstairs."

"Ok, thanks Ralph. I appreciate the help. Hey, one thing before I hang up, we are going to find Walter alive and well. This team won't give on him ok and if you change your mind and want to help just call us and somebody from here will come and get you and bring you back here ok."

"Ok Cabe. Bye."

"Bye Ralph, thanks again." with that Cabe hung up. "Does anyone have anything at all that could help? I turned up absolutely nothing useful in the loft.

Our man really does know how to play a major game of hide-n-seek."

"Well, I'm still sitting at square one with the notes that Walter left us. Even Ralph's note didn't have anything useful in it." said Toby

"I've checked out all of our cameras and the one in question look as though it was moved but those high winds we had a couple of weeks ago that lasted for several days. That alone could have loosen it up. It didn't appear to be tampered with by the human variety. I also hacked the security cameras from the adjacent buildings and I got something of a plate and type of car but the quality of the footage was so grainy that I cant really make out the license plate or anything else about the car other than it was a four-door sedan which makes up the majority of the cars on the roads today. So that was pretty much a bust there." said Happy.

"I hate to admit it but I am unable to hack into Walter's computer as well as his phone. I also tried looking at his credit card activity and his banking activity and he has his own security features on there that makes them virtually unhackable." said an exasperated Sylvester's

"I thought about making a list of people he would contact or he may choose to stay with but I highly doubt he would do that. Besides, the only people I can think of that he would even consider contacting would be Richard Elia or Linda. Ray's whereabouts are unknown to me. Personally, I don't think he would have contacted any one of them." stated Paige.

"Are any of you sure he is still in the LA area. I mean, I don't know Walter all that well but a man with 197 IQ, I'm fairly certain that he can hide any where he wants too. I mean all one really needs to hide and go anywhere somewhat undetected is a disposable credit card and phone right. They are both difficult to trace and they are both easy to obtain and dispose of if necessary." said Veronica.

Everyone was suddenly looking at Veronica with some interest.

"Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt but I just came over here to let you know that I was heading back to the condo."

"Um, Mom wait. Do you know where Walter is at or might be?", asked Paige

"No, and believe me I would have said something to you as soon as I saw that dejected look on Ralph's face and from watching him all day, there was no way I would have kept that information to myself. I'm throwing an idea your way considering I know a thing or two about hiding from people, especially from the ones that I don't want to find me. I'll see everyone in the morning." said Veronica walking out of the door.

"Well that is thinking outside the box. If nothing else, it gave us another options to look at." said Toby.

Looking at the time, Sly asked for a favor. "Hey guys, I know finding Walter is top priority but do you guys mind if I took a few minutes to call Sean and Louise to wish them a Merry Christmas before it gets too late on that side of the world?'

In unison everyone told Sly to go ahead.

"Hey Sly, put them up on the big screen that way all of us can chat with them. And YES I'm planning on asking them if they heard from our fearless leader Mr. 197 himself." stated Toby while getting a slight elbow in the arm from Happy.

After a moment Sean appeared on the screen in front of the team.

"Hi Sean", said Sylvester "and Merry Christmas."

"Oh, Hi Sylvester and Merry Christmas to you as well." Hey Louise, Sylvester and the rest of the Walter's team are on Skype.

Walking into the living room, Louise saw the screen and had a slight disappointed look on her face. "Hi everyone, Merry Christmas. Where is Walter?"

"Well..." said Toby, "...that is a very good question, Mrs. O'BRIEN. I'm just going to come out with it. First I like to say Merry Christmas to you both. Truth be told, Walter got mad at us and left. He left sometime last night around 5:55pm and we haven't heard from him since. He left us each a note and needless to say he was more than mad at us each for a different reason. We have yet to find him. Sooo, my question to you is have you heard from him at all today? If he is there and don't want to talk to us that is ok but we really would like to know that he is alive and well."

Both Sean and Louise were looking at the group of people in front of them on their screen like they were making all this nonsense up and needless to say they were not looking to happy with what was being said.

"What are you saying Toby?", asked Sean.

"Where is our son?", ask Louise

"Ok, you'll probably get mad at me about all of this because my son got mad at me earlier over all of this and blamed me for it as well so here it goes.

Mainly, Walter and I have been fighting for several months now to the point there seems to be one big chasm between us. Throughout these last several months things have been said here and there and just when it seems to get a little better things seem to happen to make things worse. Yesterday was no exception. We, as in the whole team,went to spend Christmas in a cabin in the mountains. The one rule was not tech aloud..."

"Which YOU broke." interrupted Happy.

"...yes of which I broke, I brought my cell phone but Walter did sneak in a computer..."

"That was a gift to you from Walter, I might add." said Toby.

"Lets not forget that they both came in handy given the circumstances." said Sylvester.

"GUYS, Please! ...anyway, while Cabe, Tim, Walter, and Ralph were out looking for a Christmas tree they came across who they thought was an undercover ATF agent and brought him back to the cabin where we were staying. Long story short, we ended up dealing with gunrunners and the that so-called ATF Agent wasn't an agent but one of the gunrunners who in turn kidnapped Ralph. Needless to say Walter and I jumped in my car and took off after him. Thankfully we caught him and Ralph is safe and sound at home but because I came in on the end of an argument between Walter and Tim and I was dating Tim up until this morning, Walter thought I blamed him solely for bringing that guy to the cabin and Ralph's kidnapping among a few other things that he thought I was blaming him and probable was at the time. But I really need to talk to him and make things right between us if for no other reason for Ralph's sake. So, please, if you do hear from him please ask him to get in touch with me. Please. I know he is especially mad at me but if nothing else call and let us know that he is in fact ok." Paige practically pleaded with Walter's parents.

"Let us get this straight, Walter is mad at each of you in some way or another and according to Paige, he is especially mad at her most of all. I'm going to venture a guess it is over that Tim fella. But in all of the commotion yesterday, Walter still was the one who risk it all to go after the kidnapper with you and not this fella who suppose to be in love you. Where was he?

"He was back at the cabin with us guarding the gunrunners that we captured yesterday." stated Happy.

"Where was Cabe?"

"I along with Toby was in the car behind Walter and Paige going after the kidnapper."

"So why didn't Cabe or Walter stay behind instead of the so-called better man?"

"I don't know. That question was asked of me and I don't know why Tim stayed back at the cabin and Walter jumped in the car with me. I also asked myself that question this morning." stated Paige.

"Well, I tell you now, from a father's point of view, that fella isn't the best man for you if he can't go and help protect your son like he should have. If he cared for you and your boy like he said then he should have been the one jumping in that car with you not Walter. Look, I don't know the whole story that is going on there and obviously there is a lot going on so lets agree to this, if you see or hear from Walter before us, then you call us. I don't care which one of you does it or all of you call us, just call ok and we will do the same here on this side of the world. Somehow the lot of you needs to make amends with Walter. He may have just went somewhere and took a few days to clear his mind. Basically, he needed some space and he knew he wasn't going to get it there considering he lives above the office. Either way hopefully we will be talking again soon and with the location of MY SON." stated an exasperated Sean

"The lot of you just find my boy, ok." stated a worried Louise.

Merry Christmases and goodbyes were exchanged and both sides of the world signed off from each other.

 **Author's Note: I did some research on Ireland and "Garda" is the Irish term for Police.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

Chapter 6: Part 2: Looking For Walter

After finishing their Skype call to Walter's parents, the team stood around not sure on what to do next.

"Well, that went well. What's next? Any ideas?", asked Toby.

"No, at least not what you're thinking but I do have a suggestion." stated Cabe. "Why don't we all go ahead and go home and get a good nights sleep. We all have had an extremely long and extremely emotional day. We can come back in the morning around 7:00 or 8:00 and try to figure out where Walter had gone too."

"Well, that's all well and good but...but what if Walter didn't leave willingly like we think he did and he is being held captive or is hurt somewhere?" said a distressed Sylvester.

"We just have to hope for the best here and pray that is not the case and he is ok. We won't being doing him any good if we are falling asleep on the job." said Cabe, "Hey, I want to find him as much as the rest of you but we can't do that while being exhausted. Now, right at the moment the only thing we have to go on is the fact that he appeared to have left willingly. Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, unless he calls or someone calls saying they have him and is holding him hostage or his parents call telling us they have heard from him, I don't know where else to look and we don't have much to go."

With everyone nodding their heads and preparing to leave the garage for the night, they all sat at their desks for another hour or so trying to figure out where to start looking for Walter next.

Cabe, just as reluctant made the remark, "Guys neither of us if going to get any rest at this point. If any of you have any immediate ideas as where to start looking next then I suggest we go ahead and leave. I think a good nights sleep will do us all some good."

"True, but I really don't want to go home knowing Walter is out there and need our help and we don't know it. I also know it would be illogical to stay here and do nothing at all." said Sly.

"I agree and it would also put ourselves and Walt in danger if we were exhausted and fell asleep on our feet." said Toby.

" I agree with Toby and Sly." said Happy. "Don't get me wrong I want to stay and look some more too but Walt would also want us at our optimum if he was in danger and is in desperate need of our help and here we are too tired to move."

"I agree too but I'm not going home." stated Paige. "I'm staying here."

Everyone was looking at her for her to continue all wanting to here her explanation as to why she was going to stay at the garage in the first place.

"Look, I know I should go home because of Ralph but I can't. I can't bring myself to leave partly because my condo is crowded with not only Ralph and Drew but my mother is staying there too. Also, I can't bring myself to leave just in case Walter comes back. I just want to be here to let him know that I didn't abandon him like he thinks I did."

The rest of the team, especially Toby, understood her position on the matter. They actually thought about staying themselves at that point but reluctantly chose to leave instead leaving Paige at the garage by herself.

"I think I know what Walt felt when I left him here the other night on Christmas Eve all alone." thought Paige. She never felt so lonely in her life until now.

Waking up, Walter automatically grabbed for his phone to see the time but then realized it was turned off. It took him a moment to remember why he turned it off in the first place and just shook his head and turned it back on. While adjusting to his new surroundings he look down at his phone and it read 5:00am which by his calculations that would make it 9:00 pm in LA and close enough to Ralph's bedtime to send him a quick text. After getting up and taking care of his personal needs he then sent a text to Ralph telling him 'Goodnight and Sweet Dreams' because no matter where he is at in the world Ralph will always be his top priority and his boy. After sending the text he then turned his phone back off and proceeded to get ready for the day. He thought about how he was going to plan his day out and he decided to go ahead and do his errands first, this way there would be less people to deal with at the stores and he can get in and take care of business and hopefully leave without anyone recognizing him. Its not that he doesn't want his presents known its just the past history he has with most of these people here in Cork nor would it help his situation if someone told his parents that he was in town without him making his presents know to them first.

While waiting for the local stores to open, considering nothing in Cork is open 24/7 unlike LA where nothing ever closes unless there a natural disaster like an earthquake, Walter had to wait before venturing out. So, he started unpacking boxes and placing things in where they belonged. He made mental notes on what he still needed to get at the store and the thing at the top of his list is another phone with a local number. It would be cheaper and efficient due to the fact that it made absolutely no sense to him having to make an overseas call to someone who is not ten miles away. It would definitely save money in the long run even if he was uncertain as to what that long run may be. While unpacking, he started thinking that this was suppose to be him and Paige doing this together along with Ralph. Not just him and not by himself. Finishing up the unpacking he looked at the time and it was nearly 8:30am. He then cleared out all the boxes and took them to the curb for trash removal. Afterwards he got in his car an apprehensively drove into town not really wanting to run into anyone he knows or hoping no one would recognize him. He drove directly to a local department store first to pick up some essentials like more sheets and towels and other household items. Exiting the store with his purchases he almost made a clean break until a familiar voice called to him. It was Thomas Quirk, one of his childhood bullies. Hoping he would still adhere to the truce they called back at Megan's Pattern's Day Celebration, he turned around to face him.

"I thought that was you, your parents didn't say you were coming back home for the holidays."

"Hello Thomas. The reason they didn't say anything is because I didn't tell them I was coming back home and they still don't know that I'm here and right now I like to keep it that way if that is alright with you. So can we say this is our little secret for now. I was going out there after I got a few errands done anyway but I would rather they find out that I'm here from me and not you. No offense."

"None taken. Is there reason your sneaking into town?"

"Yes, kind of but it has really nothing to do with them. Truth be told. I'm just needing some space from LA right now and I don't want LA to know that I'm here just yet. Especially one person in particular."

"Ok, I'll keep your little secret on the condition you tell me what is going on and why you are hiding from this particular person for a specific reason."

"I'll tell you what is going on later but I'll tell you this much, lets just say I got into somewhat of a big fight with Paige and things were said and I just needed some space. Then again this fight between us has lasted for the last eight months and it finally came to a head and I don't know if she will be there when I get back or not. Either way I probably lost Ralph in the whole process and that will be the main thing I will have to deal with and come to terms with when I get back. Ok."

"Ok. It sounds like a very messy break-up though. If you need to talk, I'll listen. Friends right?"

"Thanks Thomas and yes friends."

With that Walter got into his car and proceeded to the grocery store. There he manage to get in and out without anyone acknowledging him but now the question remains did anyone recognize him and have they called his parents?

Pulling up to the house he noticed a car parked in the drive. He began wondering who it was when he recognized Officer Ian Doogin.

"Officer Doogin, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing really, I was just out paroling the area. There has been several break ins in this section and I was wondering if you keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. I know you just arrived but if I can get an extra pair of eyes that would be helpful."

"Sure, not a problem. I'll do my best to keep an eye out but have you checked any security footage in the areas of the break-ins maybe a camera or two may have caught someone in the act?

"No, I didn't think anyone out here would have security cameras for their homes?"

"This may be a rural area but you may be surprised. I know in LA people have security cameras on the outside of their home as well on the inside of their homes. The ones on the inside are usually called 'nanny cams' and the footage those cameras pick up are admissible in court, well at least they are in LA."

"Thanks. That is definitely worth looking into. Say what did you say you do for a living?"

"I never did say what I did for a living but I do mostly IT work.

"Ok, good to know. Bye" said Officer Doogin. Thinking to himself, _he is strange but at the same time he seems to know what he is talking about._ With that last thought in his head Officer Doogin left the house."

Unlocking the house and propping the door open he thought that it was strange that Officer Doogin would just show up like he did. Suspicious by nature, Walter couldn't help but to think something was up by the way he was acting. It was days like these that he wished he had Toby's gift of reading people. As soon as he got the car unloaded and groceries put away, he decided it was now or never to go over to his childhood home to let them know he was in town for a few days. He just hoped everything goes well.

Sean and Louise had been up for the better part of the night worrying about their son. They both discussed the possibilities of what could have gone so wrong between Paige and Walter that he would just leave like he did. After a few hours of restless sleep Sean was up around 3:30 am. Careful not to disturb his wife who hadn't slept any better, Sean decided to go out and start doing some farm chores and get an early start on the day considering he can't sleep anyway. By the time Louise came out to the barn to gather eggs, Sean had already had gathered them and milked the cows as well as fed the rest of the livestock and cleaned a few stalls.

"You've been busy I see." said Louise.

"Yes. All I could think about is Walter and wondering if he was safe or not. Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to get up and get and early start of the day. If nothing else I might get that loft floor measured today like I've been wanting to do."

"Yes, I have lunch ready if you're hungry. I didn't sleep well myself. From the last couple of times that we have seen Walter and from some of the things that Megan has said about his work, he doesn't have a safe job and I worry. I constantly worry that we will get a phone call that neither of us wants and it felt like that last night the only thing is we don't know if he is well much less alive."

"I know Louise, but we have to have faith that he is alive and well and we will hear from him."

Putting and arm around his wife's shoulders and walking back to the house, they noticed a car coming up the driveway. Wondering who their visitor is they both walked towards the car when the driver got out and they both felt a weight lift off of their shoulders when they realized it was Walter. Setting the basket of eggs down on the ground Louise ran up to her son and through her arms around him so happy to see him. After his mother let go of his neck, Walter got a surprised when Sean, for the first time that he can ever remember, gave him a hug and pat on the back. For the first time in what seems like his whole life his father was actually happy to see him.

"Mother, Father." Walter greeted both of his parents.

"Walter, we are so happy to see you alive and well. Truth be told, your team called us last night and said that you got mad at them and left unexpectedly and didn't know where you had gone off too. They called and asked if we have heard from you in anyway. We told them no but we also came to the agreement that whichever side of the world saw or heard from you first we would get in touch with the other.", said Sean.

"Hey, its rather chilly out here lets go inside and have something to eat and some coffee, ok and we can sit and talk.", said Louise who was getting a little emotional.

Walking into the house, Walter had a mix of annoyance and a pleading tone when he turned towards his parents, "Look, I'm ok with you calling them and telling them I'm alright but I don't want to be here when you do it. A lot is going on especially between me and Paige and I just don't want to talk to any of them. To be honest, I don't want them to know I am here just yet but if you feel you need to tell them that I'm here then ok. I can live with that."

"Have things gotten that bad between you and Paige and the rest of the team that you just had to leave?" asked Sean.

"Honestly, I don't know how to answer that. As far as Cabe, Sylvester, Happy, and Toby is concern. I'm sure we can work things out and get back to where we were but Paige, Paige is a whole other story. I'm not sure about her anymore. The only thing that really bothers me about the whole situation between us is me loosing Ralph altogether.", said Walter.

Sighing and looking at her son who seems to be so heart-broken, "Paige did say last night that she really wants to talk you. I guessing whatever happened she is sorry for it and she really wants you to contact her. This is just me relaying a message. That's all. The rest is up to you."

"NO Mom, I am not going to contact her at all and if she calls her again asking to speak with me it better be out of absolute necessity and that would be because of Ralph not her not right now. There is a lot of hurt I have to deal with over her right now and I came here to get away from her without her having to stay home or me locking myself up in my loft apartment over the garage. Enough said.", Walter said with some finality in his voice.

Trying to change the subject a little, "What time did you get in town?" asked Sean.

"I landed in Dublin around 1:30pm yesterday. I sat at the airport wondering if I was doing the right things and then decided since I was here I might as well stay for a while. So, by the time I go up and got through the ticket counter to get my rental car it was around 3:00pm and I got into town last night and to my destination by 5:00pm. I was tired and didn't feel like driving out here. Sorry that I didn't let you both know sooner that I was here but I really needed the time to process everything that has happened in the last couple of days."

"That's ok. We definitely understand that long flight. Not to mention the needing to be left alone just to rest and recover due to the time change." said Sean

"What time do you want us to call LA to let them know that you are safe and sound? We did promise them we would call just didn't say when." said Louise.

"Well...," looking at his watch, "any time after 4:00pm. It will be 8:00am in LA by 4:00pm here so that would give everyone time to be up and ready for their day and getting over their festivities from last night." said Walter.

"From the looks of them, there were no festivities being had on that side of world in that particular location. They were busy looking for you.", said Louise.

"And I suppose Paige is blaming me for that. If she is, well she can stop because I didn't ask any of them to look for me. **Especially her**.", said Walter angrily.

"Walter, stay here as long as you like, but we are here if you want to talk to us about it. We are here for you. So, if you want I can go with you to pick up your things and you can stay here and save your money." said Sean.

"Thanks but no I'll stay where I am at. It may be a good thing for me right now. Besides there are a lot of the things I need to work out."

"Ok whatever you want to do. Its ok with us." Said Louise.

"Well, look what the cat drugged in.", said Uncle Tobin coming into the kitchen in his wheelchair. Looking around, "Where's Sylvester?"

"He is in LA, Uncle Tobin.", said Walter.

"Oh , well, why didn't you bring him with you?"

Trying not to get angry, "Because, I didn't want to bring him with me. I wanted to come by myself. Is that ok?"

"Well, yes, but I don't see the reasoning of leaving him at home. He is your brother after all unless he is still campaigning that is and that would be a good reason of leaving him behind."

"Why is it so important that Sylvester be here anyway?"

"No reason really. He is quite an interesting fella to talk to though?"

"Angrily getting up from table and slamming his hands down on it at the same time, Walter angrily yelled. "Why don't I just leave because it is quite obvious that Uncle Tobin doesn't want me here. As a matter of fact Uncle Tobin, why don't you call Sylvester up and have him jump on a plane and head over here just for you all by himself."

With that being said Walter went to storm out of the house when Sean called after him causing him to stop. Turning around, Walter glared at the people in front of him with years of hurt and frustration showing on his face.

"No, Dad. I'm not going to stay. Evidently I'm not wanted here because I'm not Sylvester. He is the preference here not me. Tell me something all three of you. When you look at me right now at this very moment who do you see?

Do you still look at me as that same angry 16 year-old kid that left here nearly twenty years ago or do you see the man that I have became. If a total stranger or someone who hasn't seen you for years comes up to you and ask about me, what can you tell that person? I'll give you a hint: NOTHING. Because the truth is you don't know anything about me. When I was here for Pattern's Day no one bothered to ask me what I have been doing for close to twenty years in the United States because no one cared. But then again I'm not Sylvester." said an angry Walter who had turned around and stormed out of the door.

After everyone had left the garage, Paige tried to get comfortable on the couch downstairs which seemed impossible. She thought about going upstairs and crawling into Walter's bed but again she felt like she didn't have the right too. So she just stayed there and eventually fell into a restless sleep.

 _All of a sudden the closing of the garage door startled her awake. She looked sleepily at the door and refocusing her eyes and noticed it was Walter who had walked in the door, She then jumped up from the couch and ran over to Walter and was about to throw her arms around his neck when he stopped her._

" _Paige, What are you doing here?"_

" _I'm sorry but I was just happy to see you and relieved that you are back and alright."_

" _Well, I'm alright so no need to worry but as far as being back this only temporary. Maybe a day at the most."_

" _What? Wait. Walter, what are you saying?"_

" _I'm saying I'm done. Scorpion is finished. I'm leaving and going somewhere you will never have to worry about seeing me again. This is me making your life normal and happy."_

" _You leaving isn't going to make me happy, Walter. What about Ralph. Are you just going to up an leave him just like Drew?_

" _If you are unhappy then that isn't my fault. You got what you want, Ralph is normal now. You finally got the normal child you were really wanting so You, Tim, and Ralph can be that perfect little family that you didn't want with me. Thanks to you not only has Scorpion failed but you got me out of your life for good. Bye Paige._

All of a sudden Paige woke up from what seemed like her worst nightmare of her life. She sat there on the couch and cried for what seemed like hours. Looking at the time it was 3:45 in the morning and she knew that going back to sleep was not an option for her now. So she got up and began working on case files from the last few cases before Christmas and making a list of possibilities for the rest of the team to work on when they come back into work in a few short hours. She felt like she was not going to get any decent rest until she knew for a fact that Walter was alive and well and definitely coming back into her life. Even if it is only from a distant and through Ralph, its just something she will have to live with.

By the time the rest of the team got into the garage, Paige had finished every case files that had been sitting on her desk. She had lists of airports, train stations, bus stations, and hospitals, and the only three people she knew she could call that Walter may have gotten in contact with that could have help him disappeared like he did which included her mother. After finishing every list and assigning them to a specific team member, she took a look at the time and figured it was a reasonable time to make her first phone call.

"Hello, Richard Elia, Good morning, this is Paige Dineen, we need to talk. Its about Walter...".


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **I will be bring everyone together soon so everyone will be on the same day.**

Chapter 7: Found You

After hanging up from Richard Elia and making an appointment to meet him later for a whole other matter, Paige continued down her very short list of names.

The team walked back into the garage and notice Paige already working hard at her desk and was just hanging up the phone when she noticed the rest of the team standing there looking at her.

"Morning," said a tired looking Paige.

"Morning." said the whole team simultaneously.

"Did you even sleep at all last night Dineen?", asked Happy.

"Yea, you look completely frazzled." said Toby.

"Thanks Toby, and yes, I made the attempt to sleep Happy. At least until I had one of the worst nightmares of my life." said Paige. "I've been up since 3:45 this morning because I knew I couldn't go back to sleep, I just got up and started working on case files of which my desk is completely clear of until you guys get your case files done so I can close out the rest of the open cases that still needs to be caught up on. But first things first, finding Walter.

Getting up from her desk with four files, she walked over to the table that sits in between her and Walter's desk, laying out all four files on the table. Each file contains a list of airports, train stations, bus stations, and hospitals. I got to thinking about what my mother said and I decided to compile a list to see if he actually left LA in which I hope he didn't. You guys decide which list to work off of and my job is calling a very short list of people. Even though I have started making calls to see if Walter has made contact with anyone, again my list is relatively short. Mainly because the only people I can think of him making contact with is Richard Elia, Linda and because of the way he left and the fact that my mother came back after Walter took off, I am going to talk to her again to see if she had helped him in any kind of way to disappear. Look I'm grasping at straws here and I desperately need to find Walter." said Paige.

"Hey, we want to find Walter as bad you do and this is great work kid. It is a place to start looking and when you get done with your list you can always help one of us.", said Cabe.

"Yea, and if anything you can take over one of our lists and we can start working on our case paperwork to break up the monotony of the list that we are working on and we all get a chance to clear our desk of any case files and start the new year off with a clean slate." said Toby.

"You're saying that because you are a month behind on your paperwork.", said Sly, "But I'm also going to agree with you on starting the brand new year with no old case files sitting on my desk."

"I can make that my New Year's resolution as well, but we have to take turns on whose list gets worked on first." said Happy.

"Guys, all the lists can be worked on at the same time. If nothing else, if one of you can get Paige and myself hacked into one of these places to look for our man that would be helpful because whoever is free can work on their backlog of paper work. This would allow us to look for Walter and clear out our backlog at the same time. How is that for a plan? Everyone cool with that?" suggested Cabe.

"I'm good with it.", said Sly

"I'm game.", said Toby.

"I'm in but Paige gets to chose who clears their desk first since not all of us have a month long backlog.", said Happy who was looking pointedly at Toby.

"Ok guys. Give me a minute..." walking back to her desk and looking at her computer, she brought up the file she was looking for and printed it off and walked back to the table. "...ok this is what I got left: Cabe, I am missing seven files from you, Happy, I am missing three files from you, Toby, I am missing twelve files from you, Sylvester, I am missing five files from you, and Walter, realizing there was no point in calling his name, I'm not missing anything from him. He evidently finished all of his case files and place the last one on my desk including the Christmas Eve fiasco before he left so therefore his desk is free and clear of any old files." Paige got a little emotional because she suddenly thought about her nightmare that she had had during the night. Sighing she made her decision. "Toby since you are the farthest behind why don't you start on your case files first. Let me finish my phone calls and then I will help with the lists and hopefully we can accomplish something today whether it being finishing paperwork or finding Walter or both, at least we can say we did something today. Oh, by the way, I also have a personal appointment to take care of later on this morning but it shouldn't take long and as soon as I am finished with that I will be back to help with the search of finding Walter all over again."

Everyone agreed to the plan for the day and went to their respective workstations and got to work. Paige went to her desk to make one more phone call, if anything she can make plans to meet up with her mother and talk to her face to face. At the same time she can't help but feel that her mother was telling her the truth about not knowing where Walter was at because she knows how Ralph feels about him and she wouldn't think she would hurt them by hiding Walter from either of them, especially Ralph. Thinking back Paige knew in her heart that her mother was right about her: she **was** in love with Walter and never Tim. With that thought Paige picked up the phone to make her next phone call.

"Hello, Linda."

"Yes."

"This is Paige Dineen, I work with Walter O'Brien. I hope you don't mind me calling you this early in the morning?"

"No, its ok. What do you need?"

"I was wondering if you have seen or heard from Walter any time between 6:00pm Christmas Eve and now?

"No. why? Is Walter alright?

"Honestly, we don't know. He left and we don't know where he went and we just want to know that he is ok and uninjured. We are all worried about it, especially me. So, do you know where he is at or have you heard from him at all.", sighing an exasperated sigh, "Look, if you know where he is and don't want to tell us because you made a promise to Walter or you just don't want too, then that is ok. We just want to know that he is alright. Please, if you can just let us know something anything would be helpful", Paige practically begged of Linda.

"Sorry, Paige but I don't know anything. I haven't heard anything nor have I seen him since we broke up several months ago. Paige, exactly how long has he been missing? When was the last time you saw Walter?"

"I last saw him on Christmas Eve. We left that evening and came back Christmas morning and he was gone but with our line of work, we are just worried that he may not have left on his own accord. We have looked at our security footage to make sure and it does appear that he did leave on his own but the car he had gotten into was out of camera view. So, we just can't say for sure on anything and we are looking at every possibility to make sure he did leave on his own."

"Oh, well honestly I haven't seen or heard from him but if he happens to call me then I will call you to let you know that he is ok and I if I can get a location from him then I will give you that info as well providing he is ok with me giving you his whereabouts. He is still my friend and I don't want to jeopardize that anymore than you would want too."

"I can live with that. Thank you Linda.", said Paige.

"You're welcome", said Linda, "Oh hey, it may be a day late but Merry Christmas. I hope you had a happy one. And can you do me a favor call and let me know he is alright in return."

"Yea, sure I can do that and Merry Christmas to you to Linda and honestly I could have had a lot better one. Thanks anyway for that and thanks again about calling me or any member of this team if you hear or see Walter around. Bye Linda." with that Paige hung up from Linda. Another dead end on her end of things.

After the big blow up inside, Walter started to get in the car to drive back to his house but thought better of it. Knowing the chances of him driving over a cliff are slim to none, he also knew he still should calm down before driving anywhere, so he walked to Clementine Lake to clear his mind. The one place he went to as a a child to get away from Thomas and Connor Quirk, the two bullies he had to deal with throughout his childhood. Even though Thomas seems to be keeping the truce between them Walter hoped that Connor would do the same.

As Walter approached the shore of the lake he picked up a stone and tossed it. Luckily, the lake didn't have any ice on it and the stone skipped easily across the lake, so he continued skipping rocks trying to clear his mind. He stood there thinking the only reason he came back home was try to clear his mind of everything that has happened between him and the team over the last three quarters of the year and mainly to get over Paige, if that was possible. He tried to make a conscious effort to reconnect with his parents and yet as hard as he tried he just seem to fail. It started off well and all was going good until Uncle Tobin came in the room an started insisting that he should have brought Sylvester with him because Sylvester was more interesting according to Uncle Tobin but thinking about the whole situation his parents never asked why he didn't bring him but that was probably because they already knew a little on what was going on. He thought about trying again with his parents but he was thinking of asking them to come to his house to talk that way it would just be them and no Tobin right now or anyone else for that matter. He felt he needed to try again because if he wants acceptance from his parents then he would have to make the attempt again. Thinking to himself, "I can approach this as a social experiment." something he never thought he would catch himself saying about anything because it sounded like something Paige would say.

The whole time Walter had been standing there, he never noticed he was not alone.

"Practicing for the Olympics or trying to thump the fish on their heads?"

"Uh. What?", turning around, only then did Walter noticed his visitor sitting not five feet away from him on a rock. She was rather beautiful, not Paige-beautiful but beautiful nonetheless in his opinion. She had reddish brown hair but couldn't tell the length because she had it pulled back from her face and couldn't get a definite measurement on her height because of the way she was sitting on the rock. Without a doubt she definitely caught Walter's attention.

"I asked if you are practicing for the Olympics with skipping rocks because I'm sure you would win the gold medal for it if there were such an Olympic sport or are you trying to thump the fishes on their heads?"

"Um, neither, I'm just trying to clear my mind. Who are you?" asked Walter.

"Ruby Ferguson, and you are?"

"Walter O'Brien."

"Nice to meet you.", said Ruby holding our her hand to Walter.

"Nice to meet you too." said Walter taking her hand.

"So, what is so wrong that you have to come down here and disturb the fish by throwing rocks at them?"

"I'm not throwing rocks at them. As far as what is on my mind, it is rather personal and I'm not ready to share with a total stranger."

"Well, we aren't total strangers we at least know each others names."

"Either way, I don't want to talk about it."

"Well be that way then, but I have been told that I'm a good listener."

"Maybe, but I'm not ready to share just yet."

"Whatever, I'm going to go and leave you tossing your rocks."

Getting up and gathering her things, Ruby left Walter standing on the shore of Lake Clementine.

Walter stood there reprimanding himself for the way he spoke to her. She didn't know him nor about his personal problems back in LA nor did he know her, because he never seen her before today. She also doesn't know about his low EQ problems basically she didn't know him any better than he knew her. He knows he should try to follow her and apologize to her but he will have to run into her again in order to do that. Walter stayed at the lake for another thirty minutes before he decided to walk back to get his car so he could leave. So, while walking back to the house he debated whether he should let his parents know that he was leaving or just get into the car and leave and try to talk to them later.

Watching Walter walk out the door, Sean, Louise, and Tobin was shocked at Walter's out burst.

"What was that all about and how ungrateful can he get?", said Tobin.

"Look Tobin", Louise said in an angry and tearful tone, "Sean and I already knew that he was upset. Over what, we don't know exactly. But the fact that he came all the way home to talk with use face to face said a lot to me. Now, I'm not sure if he is going to come back and try again since you made him feel as welcome as a rat. All you were concerned with was whether or not Sylvester came with him. Sylvester may be our son-in-law and we love him too but Walter is our son first and foremost not Sylvester. It took a lot for Walter to show up here just to try to talk to us over something that is personal to him, something of which he has never done before today."

Sean listening to his wife yell at her brother just stood there and thought more on what Walter had said before storming out of the house. Sean said in a low voice that Louise almost didn't hear him. "He's right. I hate to admit it but Walter is right about everything. We don't know him. I'm ashamed to say it but I do not know our own son. I do remember the angry child that left here but I do not know the man he has become. Neither one of knows him not even YOU Tobin.

"Well, who's fault is that. He didn't exactly call and talk to any of us.", said Tobin.

"No, Tobin, he didn't but that fault lies both ways. Every time we called to check on Megan, we never checked on him. We never asked if he was alright. We never asked if he needed anything. We simply never asked anything about him. So, how can you expect him to tell us when we gave him every impression that we didn't care about what he was doing. Last year the day Megan died, he tried talking to me then even if I didn't understand what he was talking about but I didn't ask him to explain further I just discounted what he was saying as science fiction and simply ignored him then. I even witness him save us along with an entire hospital full of people along with the rest of his team but I never tried to get to know him. Even when he told us stories about Megan, I just didn't try. Even everybody here witness him risking his own life to save everyone in this village, the very same people who treated him as an outcast and still I didn't notice anyone going out of their way to get to know the man he became. I know I didn't try any harder. The only thing I told him was that I as proud of him but that was it. But I can say this much , he grew into an selfless man that I can be proud to call my son but that is all I can tell anyone about him.", said a deflated Sean.

After a few minutes of standing there, Sean walked out of the house towards the barn leaving an upset Louise and her brother who was thinking about what was just said about both sides being at fault. He stood out there looking at the barn loft with the intentions of measuring it, instead, he just stood there wondering how he failed Walter when he needed him the most. Staring out across the property he noticed a tall figure walking towards the house. As the figure got closer he noticed it was Walter. Sean exited the barn and began walking towards him.

"Walter.", called Sean.

Sighing, Walter began walking towards his dad to see what he was wanting. He figured if he wanted things to change then they would have to start somewhere this is as good as place as any.

"Dad."

"Look boyo, I know things didn't go well in there before and I'm sorry for Tobin but would you mind coming back inside so we can talk."

Considering his options, Walter opted for an alternative solution. "Dad, I would like that but I don't want to talk here. I rather not talk with Uncle Tobin around and Tobin should be the one apologizing not you. I know I didn't handle things in there well either but I am willing to try this again but just with you and mom right now. I'm just not sure on how to handle everything that has been going on and then again if I tell you, both you and mom will definitely not like everything that I'm going to say if you want the entire story of what has happened over the last eight months. So, here is an alternative solution. First, I need a pen and paper to write something down for you..."

"Ok, lets go back into the house so I can get that for you."

"Ok."

Entering the house, Louise went up to her son and tentatively gave him a hug who of which actually hugged her back. "Walter, I am so sorry for what happened earlier."

"I know mom, I know and I shouldn't have gotten mad like I did either. Just so you know most of it wasn't towards you or dad."

"Maybe not but you were right, we don't know the type of man you have become but your father and I would like it if would you give us a another chance to get to know **you**."

"That is why I came back inside. Dad is getting me a pen and paper so I can write something down for him."

"Walter."

"Uncle Tobin."

"Look, I'm sorry. I never meant to make you feel unwanted around here. Please accept my apologies and I also wouldn't mind getting to know the man that sixteen year old boy has become either. Because your are right, that is the only person I know not the man you are now."

"Apology accepted, Uncle Tobin. But right now the only people I need to talk to or want to talk to at this point is mom and dad. Not to leave you out but I really need to talk to them only. There are a lot of things that I need to say but I think it is best they hear it first from me but without an audience."

Walking back into the room, Sean handed Walter a pen and paper, "Here you go boyo."

Taking the pen and paper, Walter wrote down an address and handed it back to his dad. "You can come over anytime you want. You can follow me there or you can come over later. No offense Uncle Tobin but like I just said, I just want mom and dad for now. Please." Walter waited for a moment to see what his parents were going to do.

Uncle Tobin nodded in understanding to Walter. Looking at Walter, Tobin began to see how difficult this was for him and thought better if he did stay out it and allow Walter to open up to him on his own when he was ready.

"Um, it is nearly 4:00pm. Do you want us to go ahead and call your team or wait. And just to make it clear Tobin, WE WILL BE THE ONES CALLING NOT YOU." said Louise giving her brother a rather stern and pointed look.

"Understood sister." said Tobin.

"Just so you know if I find out that you called them before we did, you better go into hiding."

"Got that loud and clear and I promise not to do anything while your gone.", declared Tobin.

Shaking his head, Walter turned to leave when there was a small knock on the door and Thomas and Connor Quirk walked in the house.

"Ah, Wally..." , said Connor, "I didn't know you were in town?"

"Yes, I got in yesterday evening."

"Look everyone, I'm going to go. Mom, Dad, if you don't mind just call them later after we had a chance to talk in you don't mind but if you feel the need to take care of that now then go ahead. You two do whatever you feel is necessary. I'll see all of you later. Bye." said Walter as he was walking out the door.

"Ok.", said both of his parents.

"Look, you two boys..." Sean catching Thomas and Connor's attention, "...are you needing to be somewhere immediately or had any plans tonight?"

"I didn't, I don't know about Connor.", said Thomas.

"I did this morning but those plans fell through. Why?" ask Connor.

"We need you to babysit Tobin over here while Louise and I are gone. Not sure when we will be back but we will be back tonight. We are going to wherever Walter is staying and talk to him. There is a lot on his mind and we are planning on being there for him. If you can't stay then we will have to trust Tobin on his merits on not calling LA period.", said Sean.

"I don't have a problem babysitting Uncle Tobin.", said Thomas trying not laugh.

Kind of smirking, "I don't either.", said Connor.

Leaving everyone there, Sean and Louise walked out to the car and proceeded to the address that Walter had given them.

While everyone was hard at work either working on a list of all the potential forms of transportation that Walter could have use to leave or catching up on their backlog of paperwork, Cabe got up and decide to make a phone call. When he was finished he came back in and made an announcement that none of the geniuses thought about. "I just got off the phone with the prison that Mark Collins is being kept in and he is still there under lock and key. I even had the warden to go and physically check given the nature of his relationship with Walter and the fact that Walter was missing."

Walking back into the garage from her appointment she had with Richard Elia and making a phone call to check on Ralph, Paige heard a lot of groaning coming from all three geniuses, "Hey guys, what did I miss?"

"Cabe making an announcement that Mark Collins is still under lock and key and please do not get me wrong that is a good thing but it could also be a name that Walter may have used to get his ticket out of here." said Toby.

"Oh ok, so, I take it that we are back at square one with the lists then.", said Paige.

"Somewhat, but we just have to look for one name. Walter using Mark Collin's name is a long shot but it still wouldn't hurt to look.", stated Happy. Which caused even more groans.

"No, No,", said an excited Sylvester. I got him. I GOT HIM. He bought a ticket at LAX the plane that he boarded left LA at approximately 8:00pm and landed in Denver at 10:00pm. Now we have to try to figure out where he went from there. But at least this is more than we've had all day."

"That is great news and we can stop looking through all of these lists for him." , said a rather relieved Toby.

"Now, you do not have an excuse of not finishing your paperwork like we all had planned earlier." said Happy.

"Hey, I have started on it and I am officially half way through. Besides I took over so Sly can get his reports done and gave him a break from staring at the computer all day.", said Toby in a matter of fact way.

"Hey Sly, can you track Walter down at all.?"

"Oh sure Cabe. All I need to do is hack into Denver's manifest and look to see where Walter went from there and continued on that way until we find a stopping point. But there may be a little glitch in that, there is still a chance that he could have rented a car or change to any mode of transportation at any point from Denver and rode to another location and got onto another plane from there. But I'm trying to stay optimistic and say he stayed traveling by plane."

"Good idea and that is the way to stay positive." said Cabe. "Since all of us but Toby has completed our backlog I suggest Toby finish his paperwork so Paige can finish closing out the remaining case files so all of us will be able to go get Walter and bring him home. If not, Toby has to stay here and finish all his homework."

"I'm working on it as we speak thank you very much." said Toby lightheartedly

By 10:00pm, all files were completed and everyone had their desks clear of all paperwork including Paige who had put the finishing touches on them and send all case files that needed to be sent to Homeland, thus leaving the cyclone's desk paperwork free for a few days. Sylvester diligently worked on looking for Walter when he hit a dead end. He lost tract of Walter in Ohio

Looking dejected, Sylvester leaned back in his chair and let out a defeated sigh when his computer gave a signal that he was getting a Skype call. Answering it was Sean and Louise.

"Hey, Sean, Louise, please say you have heard from Walter.", asked an anxious Sylvester.

"We did and he is ok. Slightly on the moody side but well nonetheless ok." said Louise.

Everyone let out a sigh of relieve because they finally had the answer they had been waiting to here since they found out that Walter had left. The fact that he was alive and well.

"Did he say where he was at?" ask Paige.

"We talked to him he gave us permission to tell you but he still doesn't want to see or talk you right now. He is here in Ireland. He came home. Give him some time. He is trying to cope with a lot of things right now and Paige you hurt him most of all. On the bright side of things he is talking to us and we are working on fixing a lot of things between us as well, so like I said, give him his space." said Sean.

"We can respect that but can you tell him to call us when he feels up to it so we can talk and clear up a few things with him because what he believes has happen isn't what happened in some of the circumstances that took place." said Toby

"We can tell him but no promises from that prospective." Said Louise.

Everyone agreed to give Walter his space and said their goodbyes.

"Cabe, can you give me a lift home? I want to go home and surprise Ralph with the good news even if I have to wake him up. I know he will be happy that I did. Not to mention that maybe just maybe I can get some decent sleep tonight." said a dejected but happy Paige.

Previously:

After everyone had left to go back to the garage, Ralph retreated back to his room to work on his project that he was working on before he was interrupted by his mother who came in to talk to him. The program he was writing was based off of the pinging system used to tract cell phones but using burner phones instead which are normally harder to trace because they are disposable. After writing the program he decided he needed a test subject. He used his grandmother's phone because Ralph knew Veronica never turned her phone off so that made her the perfect test subject needless to say it was without her knowledge. Ralph thought if she found out about his program, she would surely turn her phone off and then all of his work would be rather useless. He knew all he needed was one text that he was hoping to catch and he could use to ping Walter through then he would have found him. While trying to perfect his program, he got the ultimate Christmas gift of the year. The text read, 'Goodnight Bud, Sweet Dreams'. Ralph smiled and knew he was going to have a great dream. He was going to dream that he was going to bring his Dad back home.

The next day, Ralph had woken up extra early to finished his code and was trying to perfect it and to do that he needed the perfect test subject. His Grandmother. After spending a couple of hours pinging his grandmother's phone, Ralph lied in wait for Walter in hoping he send another text. 'Good morning hope you have a great day. Scoop.' that was all Ralph needed to make his day.

Ralph came out of his room and started explaining to both Veronica and Drew what he had been working on since the day before after they arrived back at the condo. He went into great detail on what he was wanting to do and what seemed like forever, he finally convince both adults to go along with him knowing there will be dire consequences once his Mother found out.

Several Hours Later

Ralph looking at his phone notice his mother calling. "Hi Mom."

"Hey baby, I'm just checking on you. Are you ok?"

"Yes I'm doing ok. Any news on Walter?

"No, not yet. Hey, I am planning on being home tonight. I want to talk to you about a decision I am wanting to make. I don't know if it will be for the best or not, that will be something we need to talk about. I just hope it will be for the best at this point. Ok. You may not agree with it either but I do want your opinion it though.

"Ok, Mom."

"Hey let me speak to your Father or Grandmother, it doesn't matter which one you give the phone too. Please and thank you."

"I'm right next to Dad so here you go.", said Ralph handing Drew the phone.

Drew taking the phone, "Hey Paige, how is the search for Walter going?

"Not good. We are still looking for him. What I want to ask is how is Ralph really doing?

"He is doing better than he was."

"That is great to hear. I already told Ralph but I am planning on being home tonight. I need to talk to Ralph about a decision that I am thinking about making. I'll explain everything tonight."

"Sure, ok."

"Well, can you hand the phone back to Ralph I want to say bye to him and get back to looking for Walter?

"Sure, here is Ralph."

Giving the phone back from Ralph, "Hi Mom."

"Honey, I just wanted to say I love you and I promise I will be home tonight. Ok."

"Ok mom, I love you too."

"Love you see you tonight. Bye baby"

"Bye Mom."

Drew looked at Veronica and Ralph and made the most honest statement he could make at the time. You do realize we are now the walking dead when Paige gets home and find us gone and a note left on the front table as you walk in, right."

"Right and we, as in the both of us—Veronica pointing to Drew and herself—we seriously need to think about asking for asylum. You know that right?" said Veronica.

"I agree.", stated Drew.

"Well we might as well get this journey started because I know for sure I am grounded for an indefinite period of time.", said Ralph.

With that being said all three left the Dublin airport in search of Walter. Their main destination is Cork.


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout. There will also be a note at the end of this chapter as well Please enjoy Chapter 8.**

Chapter 8: Acceptance

Waking up the next morning, Walter laid in bed longer than he usually did thinking about all that was said between him and his parents the night before. Getting up and getting ready for his day, he kept thinking about everything. He had told them about keeping Megan's ashes in a coffee can in the glove compartment in his old car and how he wasn't ready to let go of her. He then went on to tell them about the Karem Line Prize and about rebuilding the rocket that he and Ralph worked on the whole year and the fact that he won it but turned down the fifteen million dollar prize because Megan had already died and that he didn't rebuild the rocket for the money and it was suppose to be for his sister. When he announced that he had launched Megan's ashes into space he expected for his parents to be upset with him especially his dad. Instead, he was surprised when neither one got upset with him. They were definitely shocked and surprised but not mad.

" _I used the rocket to launch Megan's ashes into space. You know how she liked looking at the stars and at the time it seemed like a fitting tribute to her. I gave Sylvester the coffee can that held her ashes and he placed her in the rocket since he was married to her after all. I just didn't know how else to say bye to her and after they called and told me that I won the fifteen million dollars the money just didn't matter to me anymore."_

" _I don't know what to say. I'm shocked at the whole thought of the two of you sending my little girl into space but yet you gave up all that money for her. I don't think I can think of anyone who would give up that much money. I mean that is enough to change your life for the better and the fact that you would never have to worry about anything financially ever again.", said Sean._

" _Honey, you also did something else that I don't think you even realized you did it. You shared Megan with us. No matter what side of the world we are on she is always looking over us. Thank you for that.", said an emotional Louise._

Walter stood at the kitchen counter thinking about everything that was said and thought that this could be a new beginning for him and his parents and how Megan would be so proud of him and happy for them because finally he was beginning to heal old wounds. Rinsing out his coffee cup and placing it into the sink he decided to go to his parents home and see if his dad would want his help with the loft floor. Its not like he had anything better to do. Maybe he would talk to him about what to do about Paige.

"Ralph, start getting up so we can get going.", said Drew.

Since it was late when they landed in Dublin, the trio decided to get a hotel room and get some sleep so they can get a decent start on their journey to Cork. They also felt that since they were an unfamiliar country it would be better to travel during the day time.

While trying to get Ralph up there was a knock at the door. Opening the door, "Good morning, Veronica, would you like the opportunity to get your grandson up since I am having no luck at it?"

"Sure, I can give it a shot."

Walking over to make the attempt of getting Ralph up, she bent down to grab his foot when Ralph hollered that he was getting up and getting ready. Both adults giggled a little as a rather grumpy pre-teen boy got out of bed to get ready for the last part of their trip. After everyone was ready and had their bags packed, the trio went down to the lobby to the breakfast area and ate off of the complimentary breakfast bar. As soon as everyone got what they wanted they went to check out and was on their way to Cork which was approximately a two hour drive. "Well, here goes nothing.", said Veronica who got in the driver's seat, "Everyone buckled in? If so, lets get this show on the road." They were now officially on their way to Cork.

Arriving at his parent's house, Walter walked into the kitchen and was greeted by his mother.

"Top of the morning, Walter."

"Good morning, Mom. Where's dad?"

He is upstairs. He should be down here in a moment but you are welcome to go up there if you like. You know where the bedroom is."

Walter gave a little chuckle and went upstairs to talk to his father.

"Good morning dad."

"Oh, good morning there boyo."

"Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, what is it?

"Its about Paige. I'm not sure what to do about her. I know she will never love me but I don't want to give on her either. I feel like if I give up on her I give up on Ralph and I don't want to do that. EVER."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, "That is a hard one. I'm not sure on how to answer that. I mean if you really feel that she will never love you then I say you might want to move on but you also have that boy to think about. If you stop and think about it any other man would just cut her loose along with her boy not giving it a second thought but considering he isn't your biologically, he isn't yours, is he? I mean, I've never asked but you never gave any indication that he is **your** son. Then again it would be nice to have a grandchild."

"Biologically dad he is not mine but I've said in the past that he is my boy and I don't ever want to change that. He is every bit as important to me as if he was my own flesh and blood. I don't want to loose him because his mother and I can't get along anymore."

"The only thing I can think of is to try to fix things for him if nothing else and if you two can't fix things between the two of you then you both will be like any other divorce couple out there with a child stuck in the middle."

"I know but I don't want to be that divorce couple, not that we are married anyway, but I wanted us to fix things when I thought I had a chance but I don't think I have that chance anymore and I don't foresee her letting me have visitation rights to Ralph. Drew, who is Ralph's biological father by the way, automatically gets visitation rights and I am fairly positive that Tim has all the parental rights that could be possibly given to him because he is normal. As for me, I get nothing. Ralph is so much like me he could pass off as my son but yet she doesn't want me in that part of his life. Thinking about it she never has."

Sean didn't know what to say and fact that he heard so much emotion in his voice just made him feel at a lost himself.

"Son, I wish I could help you with this problem but I just don't know what to do here." Noticing the time, "Hey, not to change the subject on you and I know this conversation is important to you and I really want to help but I think we should get going so we can get into town and get the supplies that we need to redo that loft floor, that is if you still want to help. So, the quicker we get into town the quicker we can get back here and get started."

"Yes dad, I still want to help. Also, I concur with that. Besides we can carry on this conversation in the car."

Both men decided to go downstairs to get ready to leave. Upon entering the kitchen, Louise asked them both if they would like something eat before she left with Tobin to go to his doctor's appointment.

"No thanks Mom."

"No, honey we really do need to get into town and get the supplies we need so we can get back. You know what, why don't we meet over at McGinty's and grab a bite to eat over there after you get finish at the doctors and we get finish getting supplies."

"I'm ok with that suggestion besides, it keeps my kitchen clean."

"Ha ha. Everyone else good with that suggestion?"

"I'm good with it", said Tobin.

"I'm good with it as well, dad."

With everyone in agreement to meet up at McGinty's, everyone went their separate ways to get their errands done for the day.

"Is Walter ok?"

"About as ok as he is going to get,so I guess he is. Why do you ask Tobin?"

"No reason really, I been wanting to ask him why he came back but I don't want to ask because I afraid the question might come out wrong."

"Well, with Walter you might as well come out with it and just ask because I don't think he will just come out with the reason on his own. Just try to talk to him without making him feel unwelcome like you did last time. Ok"

"Yea sure. I just don't want to mess up anything that you three have repaired. Can you tell me anything that would help to stay clear of any sensitive subjects? I'm almost positive that there is a touchy subject that I think I should stay clear of."

"Besides Paige, no touchy subject. Just talk to him, Tobin, that is the best way to get to know him."

"Ok, I'll give it a shot after we get home. I don't want to cause a scene in public."

"Good idea Tobin, good idea."

All Tobin could do was laugh and agree with his sister.

"Walter, I have a nosy question for you and you can tell me it is none of my business if it is too personal for you to answer.

"Ok dad. What is it?"

"Have you ever told Paige that you love her?"

"Honestly, I was probably too late when I finally admitted to myself. Toby tried for two and half years to get me to face the fact that I had feelings for Paige but I refused to acknowledge those feelings until last spring so maybe I just need to face the fact that I was too late period."

"Too late or not, did you ever tell her?"

"I tried on more than one occasion but all I got was one interruption after another."

"So you never really went up to her and told her how you feel about her? How is she suppose to know if you don't just come right out and tell her? Never mind the interruptions, besides what could have interrupted you to the point of giving up all together."

"I tried to tell her how I felt. That was the whole purpose of me driving all the way to Tahoe. When I got there it was clear that she had already chosen Tim so I turned around and left at least I tried to get out of there without her ever knowing I was there in the first place but needless to say that didn't work."

"How so?"

"As I got back to my car, Cabe called and told me that I was needed, as well as the entire team, back to the garage ASAP. Then if that wasn't enough and due to the urgency to get back to LA I was stuck on a plane with both Tim and Paige."

"Ouch."

"Oh, that's not all of it. I had to split up the team when we found the hackers who were in another country and we were running out of time because they had hacked into the military to use their technology against them per se. Happy, Toby, and Ralph were left at the garage to handle their assignments themselves..."

"Not to mention it was probably the safest place for Ralph."

"...that and he just not old enough to send out in the field. Sylvester, Cabe and Tim, I had to send them to the other side of the world to try to catch the hackers. Tim definitely did not like that because of the fact that I made both him and Paige come back into the office area because, well there was really no reason I just didn't want them off by themselves at that point in time, but anyway, he was upset by saying I was purposefully keeping him and Paige apart which I was just making the logical decision that the three of them was better suited for that part of the mission. Then Paige and I went to the government building to try to hack into the U.S. military defenses. While waiting for the download, that was when I tried telling Paige that I loved her the first time."

"It sounds like you didn't tell her.

"I didn't, I was interrupted."

"What interrupted you?

"We had a missile launched at us and we ended up taking the express route down the elevator shaft to keep from getting blown up."

"Oh.", Sean was very unsuccessful at suppressing a laugh by this point. "I'm sorry Walter but I can't help myself but that is rather funny."

Starting to laugh, "That's ok, I guess that does seem funny now that I had actually said that out loud."

"It really does but do me a favor though just don't repeat getting a missile launched at you to your mother, ok."

"Yea, I'll try not too. But anyway long story short, Paige found out that I tried to sabotage her weekend, the one I sent them on. Please don't ask and lets call it a very poor lapse in judgment. Anyway she got so mad at me and wouldn't listen to anything I had to say and I said I love you into the coms thinking the coms were still being jammed and I found out that we were back in range and the whole team heard me with the exception of Paige. That was when I got a backhanded threat from Tim over that. I mean seriously he just met her unlike the two and half years that I have had with her. After everything was said and done Paige had gotten so mad at me that she decided to chose Tim anyway and then Cabe told me that I wasn't ready to be with Paige and I should just let Tim have her. It actually felt like that he said I wasn't good enough for Paige. I don't know may be he is right. If that wasn't enough Toby started telling me that I should just move on from Paige because she has moved on with Tim. Which at some point it was obvious for the way Paige was always hanging off of Tim and constantly showing him affection in front of me all the time.

Then when Richard Elia came to me to get help with his rocket. He had put my rocket technology in his rocket and his people tweaked it and I had to go put it back to specks but then mother nature decided to make matters worst. I was up in the rocket trying to fix it and lighting struck it which in turned launched me into space without oxygen. There was a parachute attached to the capsule but it had malfunction due to the lighting strike. If that wasn't enough I became hypoxic and started hallucinating up there. I hallucinated that Paige was up there with me and I wasn't acting myself but at some point Paige asked me to pull a lever and I apparently fell to the ground and she asked me if I was alright and I said no and that was when she told me it was due the lack of oxygen and I told her that it hurt me to see her and Tim together and the fact that she chose Tim and that I loved her. That was when she told me she loved me back but I'm sure, I'm positive, she lied to me because she continued on with what she was doing. She continued showing me how much she would rather have Tim in her life than me. Even Christmas Eve, Paige walked of the garage with Tim and Ralph like they were an actual family, like I didn't matter anymore. That was why I left and I'm not sure if I want to go back."

Sean had already parked the car and was listening to Walter, who had become rather emotional. Sean realized that Walter had opened up to him fully and told him the real reason why he came back and he sounded so broken that he wasn't sure what to do at this point. He could tell that Walter was in love with Paige but he also saw the state Paige was in the last couple of times that they had Skype the team and was fairly certain that Paige was also in love with Walter. He also knew that he really couldn't interfere with that relationship because that was something that they really needed to work out themselves. All he could do was be there for moral support for his son.

"Walter, I'm sorry all this happened to you. And I am here for you and unfortunately I can't take that pain away and if you don't want to patch things up with Paige then maybe you should move forward but at least give yourself some time first. Try to get past the pain first. Now I have one question to ask, how did you get down from the rocket?

"That lever that Paige wanted me to pull, well I pulled it. By pulling that lever, I was jettisoned out of the rocket. If I didn't pull that lever I would have suffocated up there. With me being jettison out of the rocket, I got all the oxygen that I needed as well as a free fall down to earth from a hundred miles from the air. Dad, I literally fell back to the ground from orbit with no parachute and no possible way to survive. I wasn't suppose to survive that dad but Paige kept pushing the team to think of ways that people survived falls like that. Cabe tried catching me via parachute catch but that didn't work thus bringing my chances of survival down to zero. Tim on the other hand contacted a navy sub that was nearby, coming back saying they were going to pick Cabe up and he stated that they will be on standby to retrieve my body but Paige again kept pushing the team on finding an alternate solution. That sub ended up launching a torpedo which aerated the water for me to land into and they picked me up and I woke up in the hospital. I suffered a sprained vertebra in my back and spent a week in bed. No one ever told me about anything that happened up there but for some reason on Christmas Eve I just remembered everything and all I wanted to do was leave. I was hurt and embarrassed and wrote everyone a note stating how upset or mad I was at them and I know I said things that I shouldn't have but I was angry at the time. What I said to Paige I probably shouldn't have said but like I said I was hurt, especially by her."

"If Paige pushed everyone to try to save you then maybe she does still have feelings for you because the way I look at it, if she truly didn't care she wouldn't have tried to so hard to get you down here safely. Maybe the two of you could use that as a basis to start mending things between the two of you. Just talk to her about it. If your Mother and I broke up after are first big fight, we wouldn't have had any children. At least try to make one last ditch effort to try to mend things if possible and if she still chooses that Tim fella then that is her choice but at least consciously tell her that you love her face to face. Now, one other question, what did you put into Paige's note?"

"I told her that she should've let me fall."

Shocked by what Walter just told him, "Walter, for one thing I know your feelings are hurt but I have to say this. **I am EVER SO grateful that Paige did not let you fall**."

"I know, like I said I was angry and I guess I should apologize for that but that will have to wait until I go back home. I'm not even sure I want to continue Scorpion anymore. I'm just not sure of anything right now."

Finally getting out of the car and walking inside, "Well, continuing your company is your decision and you are the only one who can make that decision. But what about the others, what are they going to do if you chose to end Scorpion?"

"I don't know at this point, that is why I came back home. And maybe I came here back here to find acceptance as well. I feel like I finally found acceptance with you and mom. It feels good that we can actually talk like this because three years ago I would have never talked to you about any of this like I did a few minutes ago. I guess I should thank Paige for that."

"It does feel good that you can opened up to me and I'm glad you did because even when you were growing up here you never did talk to me like you are now. Not about anything really. But seriously though never tell your mother about the missile incident but especially the rocket incident, **never tell her**."

Smiling and trying to suppress a laugh, "Ok dad but there are a lot of other incidences that I could tell you about that I shouldn't repeat to mom either."

Smirking, "Then tell me when we're alone because I can tell you right now that is a set up for her either locking you away for safety or she'll probably kill you herself."

Laughing while going inside both father and son decided it would be best not to say anything to to his mother about any of his more dire escapades after all it was for his safety. Both of their safety as a matter of fact. After getting all of the supplies they needed to take care of the loft floor, they proceeded to McGinty's to meet up with Louise and Tobin.

Arriving at McGinty's, Louise and Tobin entered the restaurant.

"Oh, good day, Aileen. Had Sean came in yet?"

"No, he hasn't Louise but sit anywhere you like."

"Ok, thanks. "

"So, what are the three of you out doing already this morning?"

"Actually, there will be four of us today. On that note, Tobin here had a doctor's appointment this morning and Sean and our extra guest are picking supplies to redo the loft floor."

"Oh, well how did your doctor's appointment go Tobin?"

"Oh it went well, I'm still alive."

"So, who is your extra guest on this fine day?"

Noticing Sean and Walter walking into the door, "Turn around and you'll get your questioned answered."

Turning around and with a surprised look on her face she quickly walked towards Walter and giving him a hug, "Walter! It is so good to see you again. Its been so long nearly, twenty years. You were always a good looking boy but you grew up to be a handsome man."

Hugging her back, "Thank you Mrs. McGinty."

"So what have you been doing all these years?"

"Well, I own my own company back in LA. I do a lot of IT work but my company also solves complex problems as well."

"It sounds like you have made quite a living for yourself."

"I'm working on it."

"Well, the lot of you get settled at a table. Anywhere you like and I'll get some coffee unless you prefer something else to drink?"

Everyone agreed on coffee and sat down at a table not far from the bar area.

"Mrs. McGinty." said a familiar voice that caught Walter's attention.

"Oh, good day to you ya there Ruby. How are you doing this fine day?"

"I'm doing well. How about yourself?"

"Oh, I'm doing excellent this morning. I got a surprise guest that I haven't seen for almost twenty years. Come over here I'll introduce you.", whispering, "You deserve to meet a good man."

"Mrs. McGinty, if it is alright with you I will meet your surprised guest later but I just came in here to see if you need any help tonight. If need be, call me and let me know but I do need to get to class. This is my free hour and I need to grab a bite for lunch and be back at school before my next class starts"

"Oh come over here, it will take just but a moment."

"Ok but can I get a quick lunch, please?"

"Sure, I'll even put it on the house."

"Thanks."

Walking back to the table with a coffee pot and Ruby Ferguson in tow, Mrs. McGinty began to introduce Ruby to Walter.

"Ruby, I would like for you to meet..."

"Walter, I see you have stop throwing rocks at the fish for now."

"I was never throwing rocks at the fish."

"I take it that the two of you met already."

"Yes, Mrs. McGinty, we met at Lake Clementine a couple of days ago. He was in a bit of mood."

"I admit I was in a rather fowl mood and I went there to clear my mind and I am sorry for being rude to you but you were also being rather nosy yourself."

"I accept your apology and I guess I was being a bit nosy considering we just met, so I am sorry too."

"Apology accepted."

"Well I guess I'm not needed here." mumbled Mrs. McGinty. "So what do the lot of you want to eat. Ruby that includes you as well."

"I'll just take the ham and grilled cheese sandwich with chips." said Ruby and she walked back towards the bar to wait for your meal and check the schedule to see, if anything, she could work someone's schedule if they didn't want to work tonight.

Everyone else gave their orders and started to make small talk. Walter on the other hand couldn't help but notice Ruby who had walked over to the bar. He actually wondered if he should try to get to know her better but at the same time he didn't know if he should try because he did promise a certain 12-year-old genius that he would be back, but on other hand, what if he didn't have anything to go back too.

Waiting at the bar, Mrs. McGinty brought Ruby her order, "Here you go dear. Look about tonight, just show up here and I'm sure we can put you in here somewhere and if anything I'm always sure someone will be willing to go home."

"Ok Mrs. McGinty. I just wish I can get a permanent teaching post so I don't have to work two jobs. No offense. I just would rather work one job and be able to go home and relax at the end of the day. Maybe have a personal life at some point."

"Your hard work will pay off for you. And if you want, I will try to find out if Walter over there is single and what he has been up to for the last twenty years. I can tell you this he owns his own company but his company is in the United States."

Smiling,"Mrs. McGinty, I don't need a matchmaker.", with that Ruby left the woman chuckling.

Author's Note: Due to a work injury, I will be off work until further notice so I will be posting more frequently until I return to work.


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

Chapter 9: Unexpected Visitors

"Well, I think I am going to go home and tell Ralph that we have found Walter. I may be waking him up but I don't think he will mind once I tell him that Walter has been found and is safe and sound in Ireland. I just don't know how to tell him that Walter doesn't want to talk to us—rather me—he will definitely talk to Ralph though but either way I need to talk to my son. Cabe, can you take me home, please." asked Paige.

"Sure thing kid..." said Cabe "...and if you don't mind I would like to come up with you to see the look on his face when you tell him. That look would really make my night after these long last couple of days."

"Sure, not a problem."

"Well lets get going then. Shall we."

Leaving the garage, Paige contemplated on whether or not to call the condo but opted against it. She had already told them that she would be home tonight. Arriving at the condo, Paige unlocked the door expecting everyone to be asleep as she walked in. Cabe was behind her when she turned on a light not noticing the note on the front table. She looked on the couch and noticed nobody was the there. She then proceeded to look in her room and found it vacant, Paige began to panic a little before she walked into her son's room and found it vacant as well. She then ran out to the living room to Cabe in a panic and saying no one was here when Cabe handed her the note that he found on the front table.

 _Mom,_

 _Please do not be mad at Grandma or Dad. I found Walter and I was going to go after him with or without them. Walter said he wanted space from the team but he isn't mad at me and Dad was needing Walter's signature on some paperwork and Grandma just tag along. I promise I will call you when we get there. By the way we went to Ireland._

 _Love Ralph_

 _P.S._

 _I already know I'm grounded and I hope it will all be worth it._

Paige looking at Cabe was beside herself. She can't believe her son had found Walter on his own and not even tell her about it and the fact that the two adults she trusted to watch over him had taken off with her son to another country and all without her knowledge did not sit well with her. She told Cabe to call the rest of the team and she was going to go pack her bags and try to call Richard Elia to ask to borrow a plane but first she was going to call her son to make sure he was alright. Her Ex and her Mother was a whole different butt-chewing when she saw them. Whether Walter likes it or not she was heading to Ireland.

After finishing their meals, everyone started to walk out of the door with Walter leading the way. All of a sudden Walter came to a dead stop not believing who he was looking at...

"Drew?"

"Walter, just the person I was looking for."

Stepping aside as not to block the doorway.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hi Walter."

"Veronica?"

Then out of the blue, Walter had some unexpected weight thrown at him. "Hi Walter!", said a rather cheerful Ralph who had his arms wrapped around Walter's waste. Usually Ralph never showed much display of affection by hugging on Walter but for some reason he did just that today. Whispering, "You know as soon as you sign some papers that my father has for you, I will be able to call you dad."

Walter stood there stunned along with his parents and a very confused Tobin.

"Where is your mother?" ask Walter.

Sheepishly looking up at Walter, Ralph said, "Back in LA."

"Uh. Wait. What? What do you mean back in LA. She actually gave permission for you to come here?"

"Not exactly." said Ralph.

"Does she know that you are here?", asked Walter.

"No, but then again she may have found my note by now.", stated Ralph.

All Walter could do at his point was sit down on the bench that was outside and look at Ralph, Veronica, and Drew in shock. Sean walked over to Walter to check on him because he looked as though he was going to be sick at the information that he just received.

"You ok boyo?"

"Um, I'm not sure. Dad.", said Walter who was looking at Ralph. "Ralph, you call your mother right now. The two you...you two can explain to me what you were thinking of on the way back home. Dad, Ralph **will be** riding with you or mom but either way I will be riding with these two back to the house. By the way, Mom, Dad and Uncle Tobin this is Ralph Dineen since Uncle Tobin has never met him and these two are Drew Baker, Ralph's biological father and Veronica Dineen, Paige's Mother, and this is my parents Sean and Louise O'Brien and my Uncle Tobin Milligan, my Mom's brother. And just so you two know—pointing at Drew and Veronica—you both are on the endangered species list when Paige finds out what the two you did and you—looking at Ralph—you are grounded until the end of time." said a rather shocked and disgruntled Walter.

"Time is infinite", said Ralph.

" **Exactly**.", said Walter.

"Hey! Don't tell mom that."

" **Call your mother**."

After all the greetings between everyone were done and everyone was walking back to the car, Sean caught Walter's attention.

"Son, are you ok?"

"Yes and no. Dad, I just can't believe that they brought Ralph over here and without Paige's permission. I just don't know whether to be mad or not. So many things are running through my mind that I just don't know how to process this."

"Look son, take a moment and calm down. If anything why don't you drive back by yourself and take some time to think about all this before you talk with them. Ok."

"No, trust me it is not a good idea that I drive while under emotional stress. Before you ask lets just say it is one of the many stories not to tell mom."

"Ha ha. Ok but you can look on the bright side of all of this."

"What is that?"

"You got your boy here with you."

Smiling at that thought, "Yea dad , I got my boy.?"

Picking the lock, Officer Doogin entered Walter's house. He wasn't quite sure what he was searching for but he would know it when he found it. He found Walter's laptop and tried to gain access to it but to no avail. He thought he had excellent computer skills but he just couldn't get into Walter's computer. He then searched the rest of the house but found nothing of any consequence. He decided to check out back in the barn but he was also press for time since he had no idea when Walter would be back. He knew he left the house that morning but had no idea where he went or how long he would be gone. Arriving at the barn he noticed that the door had a pad lock on it which made him all the more suspicious.

"Wonder what you have in your barn that you have to pad lock it?" thought Officer Doogin.

Officer Doogin decided to hold off on checking the inside of the barn so he just did a walk around trying to see if there was any small opening that he could look through. Since he couldn't find any he decided to leave it for another day. Officer Doogin left Walter's house deciding to go back to the office and do some digging on his own on one Mr. Walter Patrick O'Brien.

After everyone got into their respective cars and started driving back to the house, Ralph's phone began to ring.

Looking over at Sean O'Brien, he debated on whether or not to answer his phone at that point.

"Boyo, you might as well as answer that phone. I'm guessing that would be your mother calling and you are in enough trouble as it is with her and you might as well face the consequences now and get it over with as best you can at this point"

Looking down at his phone again, Ralph agreed. "I know. Hello Mom."

"Ralph Anthony Dineen, where are you EXACTLY?"

"I'm exactly in the car sitting next to Mr. O'Brien."

"Where is your Father and Grandmother?"

"In the rental car with Walter."

"As soon as you guys get to where you are going, you WILL CALL ME BACK so I can talked to all three of them. UNDERSTOOD."

"Yes mam. Mom?"

"Yes baby."

"Please do not get mad at Walter. He did not know I was looking for him and he did not know I was coming out here. I'm also the one who talk Dad and Grandma into coming with me. We also just happen to run into Walter when we stopped in town to get directions to his Mom and Dad's house."

"OK. We will discuss that in a moment. Love you baby."

"Love you mom."

Hanging up from his mom, Ralph turned to look at Sean and said, "I think I'm going to need you and Mrs. O'Brien to give me asylum. I'm just not sure from whom. My mom or Walter? Neither one seems happy at this time."

Chuckling, "Look your mother is just worried about you and Walter was shocked and he a lot of things that could have gone wrong run through his mind but no doubt that Walter is happy to see you. He told me that you were his boy no matter what."

Smiling, "I know and when Walter signs those papers that my father wants him to sign then Walter will be my dad as well which makes you my grandpa.", stated Ralph who began smiling again. Smiling at the thought of having a grandson, "Well, between you and me, I will gladly grant you asylum.", with that assurance in mind both occupants of the car road back to the house with smiles on their faces.

Hanging up the phone from Ralph, Paige just didn't know who she was more mad at, the two adults that was suppose to be looking after her son or her own son. Paige knew deep down that Ralph was more like Walter than he will ever be like Drew and she also knew Ralph would have found a way to Walter with or without anyone's approval but that doesn't mean he won't be grounded. Thinking about all of the choices she has made over the last several months quitting on Walter was the worst mistake of her life because she knows she will never be able to raise Ralph without Walter. She just hoped that he will be interested in co-parenting Ralph even if he doesn't want her in his life anymore.

While sitting in class and waiting for her students to complete their class assignment, Ruby couldn't help but think about Walter. There was just something about him that intrigue her more now then when they first met at the lake. When she first met him he appeared moody and mad at the world but today she could still see the hurt and anguish in his eyes but there was also a hint of a smile that she didn't notice before. Shaking her thoughts from her mind, she thought to herself:

"Girl get your head out of the clouds. You barely have any time for yourself much less any time for romantic endeavors. You practically work two jobs to make ends meet and you barely do that. Besides, Mrs. McGinty said he owns his own company which was back in the States, so that should tell you there that he is not planning on staying for a long period of time."

Accepting those thoughts, she went back to concentrating on her lesson plans in front of her.

Back at the office, Officer Doogin started doing his own background check on one Walter O'Brien. His search turned up the standard background like his date of birth and the fact that he was born here in Ireland and his parents were Sean and Louise O'Brien. He also turned up the fact that Walter was arrested when he was eleven years of age.

"Well, Mr. O'Brien lets see what you did to get yourself arrested at that age and I bet it was burglary and breaking and entering.", Doogin thought.

Making the attempt to look at Walter's juvie record and failing miserably, he decided to go down to county records to see what he could find down there. Upon entering the building, he went to the clerk's desk to ask permission to look at old juvie records. Upon being granted permission, Doogin went to the area he needed to be in and look up Walter's name and was surprised when all he found was a card in place of the record itself reading:

 _ **'Walter Patrick O'Brien; Age 11 Born; Callan, Ireland on May 15 1982 to the Parents of Sean and Louise O'Brien.**_

 _ **This record has hereby been expunged and permanently sealed by the ORDER OF JUDGE BARRA CAVANAGH AND THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL GOVERMENT'**_

Looking at the card, an unsuspecting Doogin was shocked and thinking to himself, "Damn man, what did you do?"

Leaving the County Clerks office, he drove back to the station trying to figure out where is the best place to start looking into Walter's background all at the same time he couldn't get that card out of his head. "Just who are you O'Brien and what did you do to get that card in place of you juvie record?"

Arriving back to his parent's house, Walter wasn't sure who to interrogate first. Getting out of the car, Walter decided to start with Ralph.

"Ralph, your first, and before I start questioning you to death have you called your mother?

"Yes and no. I was going to call her but she called me first and her instructions were: as soon as we got back here I was to call her directly and she was wanting to talk to all three of you and probably me for my involvement in all of this."

"Just so the three of you know—pointing to Drew, Veronica, and Ralph—I have no involvement (motioning with his hands to indicate the three of them)in this. This is all of you. Not Me.", said Walter.

As everyone was going into the house to start clearing things up, another car pulled into the driveway. Noticing who was in the car all Walter could do was let out a loud sigh and groan. Sean started chuckling at him over it. Louise went over to the car to give an opened-arm greeting to their new guest.

"Ahhh Darby/Kevin it is so good to see the both of you. How was your trip to London?", asked Louise.

"It was good actually, one of our better ones. We spent some time with our daughter and grandchildren. They're both growing like weeds you know.", said Darby. Noticing Walter, she went over to give him a hug, "Oh, Walter what a pleasant surprise. When did you get back into town?"

"I got here Christmas Day. It was kind of late in the evening when I actually arrived here but I didn't come to the house until the next day."

"Oh, well that is nice that you could get time off from work to be able to come here and visit with your family.", said Darby.

"Getting time off wasn't too difficult considering I own the company."

"Oh, Congratulations. I wasn't aware of that. Not to bring up bad memories but how have you been doing since Megan died. I know its been a little over a year now and I also know that the two of you were close."

"Honestly, it was hard at first but it has gotten a lot better."

"Sean and Louise told us that she was cremated. Not to be too nosy, but where did you spread her ashes?" asked Kevin.

"Deciding they were going to eventually find out from his parents anyway Walter decided to just let them know the truth, "I launched her ashes into space."

Both Kevin and Darby Flanagan just looked at him with a puzzled and shocked look on their faces.

"How about we all just take this conversation inside?", suggested Sean.

"Dad, ummm.. we will be in there momentarily but there is a phone call that needs to be made as you know." said Walter giving a pointed look at Ralph who came to stand beside him.

Knowing what his son was talking about, Sean just nodded and proceeded to follow the others inside the house while Walter took his unexpected visitors out to the barn where they had a little privacy.

Walking into the house, Darby turned to look at Sean with an even more puzzled look. Is that Walter's son?"

"Yes and no."

Now Louise was looking at Sean with a puzzled look.

"Lets just give them some time out there and when they come back in then everything will be explained, hopefully. Right now there is just a lot going on out there.", said Sean.

With that vague explanation, the Flanagans began describing the places they visited while in London and talking about their grandchildren.

Outside in the barn on the other hand, was not such a pleasant conversation.

"Hello Paige.", said Walter. "You mind telling me why I have Your Ex, Your Mother, and Your Son here with me?"

"Hi Walter," said Paige trying to keep her emotions in check. She was both angry with her son, mother, and ex and relieved that Walter was actually willing to talk to her. "I like to know the same information as you actually. What were the three of you thinking. Especially and I mean especially both of you, DREW and MOM? Do you realized that I can get you for kidnapping my son? I am so furious with the both of you right now I'm not sure if your deaths should to be slow and painful or quick and painless at this point. Do you realize that if something were to happen I would have had no idea where either of you were with my son.", by this time Paige was on the verge of tears because of the thought of her loosing the most important thing in her entire life and that was her son. After composing herself a little, "Walter, has Drew given you any paperwork to sign yet?"

"Yes, I have them in my hand and I am looking over them now. Why is Drew signing over all his parental rights to me?"

"Look, we can talk about that later. I am on my way there as soon as I can get on board a plane. I know that you do not want me there and I was going to respect that but given the circumstances, I am coming over there. Hopefully, I will be calmed down enough as not to **strangle a couple of adults**. As far as those papers are concern please, please sign them because as of this very instant you have sole custody and responsibility over **our** son. And yes, you heard me correctly, I was referring to you and me when I said **OUR** son."

"Ok, considered them signed."

"Now as for Ralph, when I get there, I expect to get a full explanation as to why you did what you did and all of the whats, whens, wheres, whys, and hows. You got that? **And your are grounded indefinitely**."

"Yes, mam."

"I guess I will be seeing you by tonight or tomorrow at the latest."

"Paige."

""Yes, Walter."

Thinking for a moment, "Go ahead and bring the rest of the team with you."

"Ok, I will but to be honest they are already packed and ready to go."

"Ok. Bye then."

"Bye."

Everyone said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. "You two are definitely on the endanger species list." said Walter referring to Drew and Veronica. "As for you...", looking at Ralph, "...you are under house arrest for the rest of your days."

While walking back to the house...

"Ralph, what do you want to bet that your mother is planning to high-jack one of Richard Elia's plane?, asked Walter.

"Can I wager my grounding restrictions down to zero on the assumption that she will do just that?"

"No."

"Then it is a sucker's bet, Dad"


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

 **I would like to give a big shout out to everyone and say a big THANK YOU. I have officially reached over 50 followers on this story. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it cosidering this is my first fanfic story. It really gives me the encouragement to keep writing. Thank you again.**

Chapter 10: Thoughts And Revelations

Walking back into the house, Walter looked at his parents and laid the paperwork down on the table in front of them saying, "Merry Christmas. I know its a little late but you now officially have a grandson."

Looking at Sean who was smiling at Ralph, Louise asked, "What you are talking about Walter and Sean what do you know?"

Sean just said, "Ask your son."

"Walter?"

"Long story short at this point, I just signed papers getting parental rights to Ralph. As far as the rest of the story of everything else that is going on at this point, it will just have to wait until Paige and the rest of the team gets here which will be either late tonight or tomorrow sometime. My guess is she will be here late tonight due to the fact that one of my clients, who I also consider a friend, owns two planes and I'm 98% sure she will hijacked one of them."

Smiling at the thought of having a grandchild, Louise went over to give Walter a hug as well as Ralph. "I am so happy for the you both." looking at Drew, "Thank you for allowing this to happen."

"Your welcome.", said Drew. Soon after the announcement was made Mr. and Mrs. Flanagan decided to leave. "Louise, since you have extra company to get ready for I think we should take our leave. Unless you need the help to prepare for them then I will be happy to stay and help.", said Darby who was actually making an excuse to stick around to gossip. "No, but thanks Darby, I can handle it from here. Besides, I have plenty of people around here to help with any preparations for the people who will be in here by tomorrow's end." With that being said Mr. and Mrs. Flanagan left, leaving the rest inside to talk and try to explain a little on what was going on and why the trio was here in the first place.

As Paige and Cabe got back to the garage the rest of the team had already arrived with bags packed and ready to go to Ireland.

"I can't believe Ralph was holding out on us. How did he find Walter so quickly when we have been looking for him practically non-stop?", asked Sly.

"Well you know Walt, he wouldn't just up an abandon jr. genius.", said Toby.

"True but Ralph said he wouldn't help find Walter but yet he did and then took off after Walt. What was he thinking he could accomplish that we couldn't?", asked Happy.

"Well, actually, Ralph said he wouldn't help **us** find Walter, he never said he wouldn't try to find him on his own but I am quite curious on how he did it and such a short time at that.", said Sly.

"Look, we are all curious on how Ralph managed to find Walter but we won't get those answers until we have both of them in front of us.", said Cabe.

"Walter is ok for all of us showing up like this, right?", asked Sly a little nervously.

"Yes Sly. He does know and as a matter of fact, he asked me to bring you guys along." said Paige.

"Well, that is good. At least it is a start to healing this team and we do need to heal before we can take anymore cases.", said Toby.

"I agree.", said Cabe.

With the team in agreement on what needs to be done, Paige walked away from the group. She sent a text to Linda to let her know that Walter was ok and in Ireland with his family. After all she did promise her that she would do that. Then she made a phone call to Richard Elia. During her meeting with him that she had the other day, he did tell her to call him no matter what time of day or night to let him know that Walter had been found.

"Hello."

"Richard."

"Yes."

"Hey this is Paige.

"Oh Paige, have you found Walter?" asked a sleepy sounding Richard.

"Yes. You said to call you no matter what time of day or night to let you know that Walter has been found. His parents called us to let us know that he was there with them in Ireland. Now, there is a huge favor that I need to ask of you. My son, Ralph, was also looking for him and found him and did not tell us and then took off to Ireland himself, along with my mother and my ex. So, can I borrow plane so I can get over there to get my son and maybe try to bring Walter home as well?

"Yes of course Paige, I will have a plane ready and waiting for you at Burbank Airfield in say about two hours. Just let me know how many people will be on board."

"The entire team will be going to Ireland. Now, I am planning on sending two people back immediately so you don't have to worry about your pilot bringing back an empty plane."

"Don't worry about that Paige, just bring Walter back home will you. I feel like I need to apologize to him for what has happened this past week."

"Ok Richard, thanks." said Paige.

Hanging up her phone and walking back towards the group, "Guys, Richard Elia is letting us borrow a plane. We leave in two hours.", said Paige.

"So, it is currently 4:30am here so we will land in Ireland around 6:30pm there.", said Sly.

"Well, lets go, we can sleep on the plane.", said Cabe.

Everyone was sitting around the table making small talk when Walter got up from the table and went into the living room where Ralph had retreated too not three minutes ago.

"Hey bud, you ok?"

"Yea, I just got a little board in there."

"Yea, I can relate. You want to come upstairs for a minute?"

"Sure."

Walter and Ralph both got up to go upstairs. Before going up Walter called to his mom.

"Hey, Mom."

"Yes, dear."

"Do you still have my old telescope?"

"If we do, it would probably be in the attic."

"Ok."

On the way upstairs to the attic, both geniuses stopped by Walter's old room. Ralph looked around the room in fascination and saw the one thing that caught his attention. He saw the blue prints to the space shuttle that got Walter in trouble in the first place.

"Dad, would it be alright if I can take this back with me when we go back to LA?"

"What is that?"

"This." pointing at the blueprints and looking at Walter.

"Sure, I don't see why not. Is there a particular reason you want that?"

Unaware that they had company, Sean stood outside the door just listening to the interactions between Walter and Ralph.

"Yes, there is a reason actually but I would like to keep it to myself for now if that is ok."

Sure, that is ok. We will take it down before you go back to LA."

"How about before **we** go back to LA."

Chuckling a little, "Ok, Ralph before **we** go back to LA. Come on, I want to see if my old telescope is up here and if so see if anything needs to be replaced on it."

"Ok."

Walking up to the attic, Walter started looking for his telescope that he had as a kid. But for Ralph, he felt like he found a treasure trove to Walter's past. While looking, Sean walked in and watched in aw at how easily Walter and Ralph interacted and felt a little pang of jealously because he wished that Walter and him had that type of connection when he was Ralph's age.

"Do you two any help?", asked Sean.

"Maybe a little considering a certain 12-year-old is occupied with other things.", said Walter.

Chuckling, "Ok. What are you looking for exactly?"

"My old telescope."

"Oh cool.", exclaimed Ralph with a gleam in his eyes.

"Did you find the telescope?", asked hopeful Walter.

"No. But I did find an old book."

"Cool but that is not what we are up here looking for."

"I think it is, the only thing is that nothing appears to be in English. That's why it is so cool to me."

"I guess it would. Let me see it.", asked Walter.

Looking at the book, "It is in Gaelic Irish.", said Walter.

"Can you translate it to me later?"

"Yes, I will read it to you at bedtime.",

"Ok, cool."

"Good, now how about you helping with finding the telescope?"

"Ok."

Finally finding the telescope, they went downstairs and Walter gave the task of dissembling and cleaning it to Ralph while he went outside to the barn to help his dad like he had planned.

"Hey Walter.", called Drew.

Turning around, "Drew."

"Do you need any help. I mean since I'm here I might as well find something to do while I await my judge, jury, and executioner."

Giving a 'you deserve it look', "Yea, you can help, by the way where is Veronica?"

"I left her in there with your mother and Ralph."

"I think I am going to run inside for a moment. Knowing Veronica, I think I need to have a quick chat with her."

"Why, don't you trust Veronica alone with your Mother. After all she is Paige's mother?", ask Sean who was smiling at Walter trying not to laugh.

"No, actually, I don't.", said Walter who immediately went walking back towards the house.

Drew looked at Sean puzzled at Walter's reaction.

"What was that all about?"

"Well, given the situation, has your mother ever met Paige's mother?"

"No, Paige's mother wasn't around when we were together. Then again, Paige only met my mother on a handful of occasions. Why?"

"Did they get along?"

"My mother tolerated Paige at the beginning and when she found out that we were expecting Ralph, she, well...lets just say she never wanted to see Paige around the house again. And I am being nice about it."

"That is too bad."

"That still doesn't explain Walter's reaction"

"Do you think your mother and Veronica would have gotten along?"

"I don't know, I doubt it but then again I only just met Veronica a few days ago and I know a little about why she wasn't in Paige's life but I think you should hear that explanation from Paige. Why?

"Oh ok, then I will just have to wait on Paige to talk about her mother. In the mean time I will try to explain as to why I asked you that question. The one thing that you would hope for would be that both yours and her parents would get along. That in and of itself makes for an easier family gathering when both sides of the family can get along. Then on the other hand, when they don't get along it makes for a lot of difficulties because one side or the other may think their child isn't good enough for the other or the couple in the middle has to decide on who's house to spend certain holidays or other special occasions. From what you just said about your mother not liking Paige, that seems like the likely scenario with your mother. She didn't think Paige was good enough for you so when the unexpected pregnancy popped up that was all the more reason to think ill of Paige because she was young and, probably to your mother, had no sense of direction. What were you like back then?"

"I was young and maybe a little wild. We were both young and in college. I was going to college on a baseball scholarship and that was all I really wanted to do. Ralph really wasn't part of the plan. He just happened. When I got signed on to the minor leagues I thought it was my ticket to the majors like I always wanted. I never thought about how I was going to do that with a girlfriend and baby to take care of. I tried, believe me I really tried but I was young and didn't know what I was doing. I ended up going from one minor team to another and then Paige kept saying something was wrong with Ralph. She kept saying he wasn't acting like the rest of the kids his age and I thought it was just her. He was a baby after all and I didn't know any better or how to determine that something was really wrong with him. I mean, he did seem slow, for example: When he was about a year old, I rolled a ball to him and he just looked at for the longest time. I tried to coax him to roll it back to me but he would just kind of turned it around examining it. He eventually rolled it back but after that he acted like it was nothing special. The other toys had, he would treat it like the same way, he would examine it and play with them for a moment then he acted like he was bored with, almost like he had no use for it anymore. When he was two, Paige insisted on taking him to a doctor to see what was wrong with him because she truly believe something was wrong because he never did act like the kids in the day care he was in while I was training. I finally agreed to it and after a few visits and a few test were ran, the doctor came back and said he was developmentally delayed and mentally challenged. He basically told me that my son was never going to be that normal little boy that I wanted to play ball with when he got older. Soon afterwards the fights between us began and increased to the point that I just didn't want to go home anymore. I didn't know how to be a father to a special needs child. I even began to blame Paige for doing something that I didn't know about during her pregnancy that ruined our child for life. Needless to say, I told my mother about Ralph's behavior and she immediately began blaming Paige as well, saying she done something that she shouldn't have during her pregnancy and how it was all her fault and that I should just up an leave. We weren't married after all and I should just cut all ties with her and walk away. Sorry to say, I listened and gave up on them both. It didn't help that my baseball career was my one true love over both of them. Looking back, I was never really ready to be a dad. I was too young and I still wanted to see the world from the front seat not sitting in back wishing and regretting not following my dream, I just wished I hadn't abandoned Paige for it all."

"From what you just said about Ralph at that young age, you describe Walter as a baby. But if I had to compare, myself to you,I was somewhat like you but I couldn't and wouldn't have walked away from children. I don't think I could have lived with myself if I had made that decision. My daughter, Megan, she was born like any other normal child, she acted like any other normal child but unfortunately she came down with MS which devastated both of us. Walter was still young and we didn't think he would have understood what was going on so we didn't even try to explain anything because we couldn't understand ourselves what was going on nor could we believe our own sweet baby girl was cursed with that dreaded disease. Then Walter, who acted the same way like you described your son, and like you, I didn't know how to raise my son because he was so different from all of the other boys around. You don't think I didn't want a boy to help me on the farm instead I fathered a child who was constantly being ridiculed about being different and constantly called to the school because his teachers thought he was consistently being belligerent with them when honestly they couldn't teach him anything because he had already figured it out and was always and I mean always correcting them. But unlike you, I didn't walk out on my son. I do feel like I did abandon him because I never stood up for him when he needed me too. So, in a sense I guess I did abandon him just not in the literal sense."

"So why do you think Walter is worried about me leaving Veronica alone with his mother?"

"Honestly, that is a question we are going to have to ask him. I just met the women today and apparently you haven't know her that long but Walter seems to have known her long enough to be worried about you leaving her alone with his mother."

"Well, I'm not exactly sure but from what I can put together and understand, Veronica really wants Walter and Paige to patch things up and get back to where they were at or maybe more like them actually getting married. All I can say is that Veronica thinks that Walter is her daughter's soul mate."

"You know, Megan pretty much said the same thing when she first mentioned Paige to us and how Walter was slowly changing for the better. From what I saw on the day that Megan died, she was right. He did change but I just didn't realize how much until now."

"You know if she came up and told me when I came back three years ago that she considered Walter as Paige's soulmates, I would have just gotten mad and all the more jealous of Walter for grabbing a hold the one special thing that I let go of."

"Well, I guess I can see why Walter would be worried about leaving Veronica alone with Louise. He may be worried that both mothers might interfere with whatever him and Paige is fighting over instead of letting them figure things out for themselves. I get along with my mother-in-law but if Louise and I was in an argument like those two are, I don't thing I would want her mother and my mother co-conspiring with each other to try to solve a problem that doesn't involve them. I've talked with Walter and I also told him that I will be here to support him but it is up to them to figure out what the real problem is and start trying to fix things from there. I also told him it will be hard but if they can work things out on their own they both will be better for it."

"I think I can see your point. I guess it is bad when your mother and possible future mother-in-law are getting along and conspiring with each other all at the same time and lets not forget to mention that they just met today on top of everything else."

Chuckling. "I guess that would be something to worry about."

Walking back in the house, Walter saw Louise and Veronica sitting at the table in deep conversation. "What are you too conspiring to do."

"Nothing of any consequence, why are you worried about something?", asked a smiling Veronica.

"With you, there is always something to be worried about. Speaking of which can I talk to you privately for a moment? Please."

"Yes, of course. Is everything ok.?"

Walking farther into the other room hoping they were both out of earshot, "Yes, but I just want to tell you something, well actually warn you about something that I want you to take to heart."

"Ok. What it is?"

"I know that you are a con-woman but my family doesn't as well as the rest of this village. So this is what I want you to take to heart. If you are planning on or make any kind of attempt as to swindle anyone out of anything here, DON'T. If I find out that you have conned someone here, trust me there won't be a boulder, rock, pebble, or a grain of sand that you could hide under and I not find you. You know I am **that** good and you can also take to heart that if you want Paige and I work together then go for it because I have a feeling she would be more than happy to help me locate you regardless as to where you are in this world. Do I make myself clear."

"Yes, and do you really think I would take advantage of your family?"

"Veronica, I don't think you would intentionally but I also know that you may not be able to help yourself given an opportunity. Paige and I have enough problems with each other as it is and we definitely don't need you bringing anything extra into the mix."

"Ok, I get where you are coming from with all of this and I give you my solemn promise on that. As a matter of fact, I will give you a Scoop Swear Promise. That was something that Paige asked me to make a few days ago. Ralph explained to me what a scoop swear promise was."

"Ok. Good. I will most **certainly** hold you to that then. One more thing, don't go conspiring with my mother."

"Ok, but too late.", patting Walter on the cheek, Veronica walked back into the kitchen smiling.

Walter shaking his head at a retreating Veronica looked towards the dinning room to where Ralph was working on the telescope. Watching Ralph for a moment, he decided to walk in there to check on him.

"Hey bud, how is it going in here?"

"Hey, dad. Its going ok but some of the lenses are going to have to be replaced as well as some of the parts."

Walking over to his now adopted son, Walter began looking at the dissembled telescope on the table while at the same time, unbeknownst to the two geniuses, they were both being watched by the two women from the kitchen. One woman in particular was watching in amazement how easily Walter interacted with the twelve year old boy and wondered how it was possible that a child who had no biological attachment to her son acted so much like him. It was almost like she wanted to ask for a paternity test to prove that Ralph really was her biological grandson but come right down to it, it didn't matter because she can see just how happy and content her son was at the moment. It also made her realize what she had missed with him when he was growing up and wished she had a second chance to go back and change things for the better with her son. In truth, she wished she had the same relationship with Walter as he does with Ralph. Even though she felt a pang of jealously, she was also proud of the man that her son has become as well the the parent he was becoming.

"Ralph, from the looks of things how about you and I go into town and look at buying another one. We can look at and compare prices and see which would be the most efficient choice as far as repairing this one or just buying a new one. Then again this one is about twenty years old anyway."

"Sounds good to me, I'm ready whenever you are."

Smiling and nodding, "Ok. Get ready and I will let the others know that we are going into town for a little while."

"Ok, just let me grab my jacket and I will be ready."

"I'll see you in the kitchen then."

Walking back into the kitchen, "Hey, Ralph and I are going into town to see about getting a new telescope or maybe repairing the old one, do you need anything while we are there?"

"No, I don't think so but I can always call you if I need anything."

"Ok. That will work. Ralph are you ready?"

"Yes."

With a thought occurring to Walter, he turned back around to face the two women in the kitchen, "As a matter of fact, everyone is welcome to come with us if you want too?"

Tobin who had just entered the kitchen asked, " Where are you going?"

"Ralph and I are going to go into town and look at telescopes. Do you want to come with us?"

"Sure, I'll go with you. It sure beats sitting around the house bored for the evening."

"Mom, Veronica?"

"I'll go with you. Might as well sight see before my daughter gets here and permanently bans me from certain privileges."

Smiling, "I'll go if your father wants to go."

"Alright, I'll go outside and ask them if they want to go with us while everyone gets ready."

Walter noticed that his father and Drew were talking when he was walking out to the barn, he just couldn't tell what they were talking about though. Entering, "Hey, Ralph and I are wanting to go into town to look at telescopes. I told everyone inside that they are welcome to come along. Everyone said yes but mom said she would go if you want to go, so now the decision lies with you and Drew."

"Sure, I might as well go and see something here in Ireland before my judge, jury, and executioner shows up and passes sentence on me."

Smiling, "Sure we'll go. I really don't foresee this loft getting done today anyway."

"At the rate of visitors that keep showing up, I don't foresee it either."

Soon after, everyone was ready, the group was on their way back into town not knowing how soon the rest of their visitors will be arriving. But, for a certain couple, they just know it will not to be pretty when a certain blonde haired single mom gets into town. They both are fairly certain she will be wanting blood for what they did or should they say what they didn't do.

The team had boarded the private jet that Richard Elia has loaned them by 6:30am and by 7:00am they were up in the air. They had flown across the country and refueled in Maine. Now, they are somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. Paige had just woke up from dozing off and was now staring out of the window.

"Hey, Paige. How are you holding up over here?"

"Hey, Toby. Honestly, I don't know. I'm not sure about things anymore. First of all I all but destroyed the very person who in a sense pulled me out of a whole and gave me back my son. Second, said son couldn't trust me enough to let me know that he went looking for and found Walter and then up and left without my knowledge and I can't figure out for the life of me as to why. If that isn't enough, the two people who I trusted to keep him safe decided to go off to another country with him and not bothering to call me to let me know they were leaving. And just to keep that ball rolling, I find out everything through a note that was left on the front table by the door like they just left to go get a gallon of milk from the store. So, tell me Toby, how am I doing?

"Well, other than the obvious frustration of being left out, I think you are holding up better than most people would in your present situation. But your body language also says you are apprehensive and anxious about seeing a particular genius with a 197 IQ."

"Actually, I am down right scared, Toby. I am scared that I've destroyed everything between us to the point there is no salvaging it. I am also scared that he wouldn't accept me back as anything other than an employee and truth be told, I would deserve it."

"Paige, I have a feeling you have a couple of cards up your sleeve that you are not sure you want to play."

"Maybe, but the decision is mine to make and it may be for the better, I don't know. Either way, its not your choice to make or your decision to weigh in on. This decision stays with me and possibly Walter, but not you or any other member of this team. From what I gather, which I am still waiting on the whole story from you and Cabe and Tim's involvement, you guys did enough damage trying to make decisions that had nothing to do with any you. So, sorry, but you guys are sideline with the whatever happens between Walter and myself. We need to figure this **personal** and **private** situation out on our own."

"Fair enough."

Sitting back in her seat and staring back out the window, Paige tried to keep silent tears from falling because she felt like her whole world was falling apart and she didn't know how to start fixing it. She also began to wonder how all of this damage to the team in general happened and if Tim was the cause of it all.

The rest of the team had also heard the conversation between her and Toby and realized that she was right. They had to let them figure this on their own and hope for the best and pray for the worst that everything would work itself out and that they could go back to being the team and family they once were. Each individual person also thought Walter was right in some way, ever since Tim came on board, things slowly fell apart without anyone noticing what was happening around them.

Toby began psychoanalyzing everything that has happened since Tim came to Scorpion as a training agent or at least that was what he said he was at the time but he also said that he chose Scorpion not Scorpion choosing him. What was his sole purpose of being there. What was his real mission? Was he trying to destroy Scorpion from the inside and if so, why? Was he truly interested in Paige or was he just using her to get to a bigger target? There were a lot of questions popping into his head about Tim all of a sudden and the one person he really needed to talk to was in Ireland. Toby was just hoping that Walter would be willing to talk about everything that has happened over the last eight months with an open mind and accept his apology for messing up the one real shot he had at true love. For as long as he has known Walter, he also has never known Walter to be in love with anyone. Paige just happened to be that special someone that made a big difference in that megalomaniac's life. She had done nothing but make him a better person and he just hoped and pray that that love was still there. Toby also made another silent prayer. He prayed that his two best friends find their way back to each other because he feels that Walter and Paige are the opposite sides of the same coin and Ralph gets the best of both worlds with a set EQ/IQ parents like Walter and Paige, because for a genius that is rare.

Cabe listening to the pair, started to wonder how much damage he caused. Was he wrong telling Walter he wasn't ready for Paige? Telling him that Paige was better off with Tim? Maybe Walter was more ready than he gave him credit for. Cabe started thinking that he made a mistake by bringing Tim in as a training agent and also hiding the fact that Tim had a hidden agenda. He just wasn't planning on getting captured and Paige getting shot. Both of those incidences was probably the main reason why Walter never truly trusted Tim. He held Tim accountable for him be taken hostage and beaten and he surly held Tim accountable for Paige getting shot. If Paige was killed during that mission, Walter would have held Tim solely accountable for that lost. Not to mention, Cabe could have possibly lost Walter's trust all over again due to the fact that not only would he have lost the love of his life, even if he didn't want to admit it then, but Walter would have also lost Ralph because Ralph would have been sent to his father in Maine. Then a realization hit Cabe, upon loosing those two, Walter would have imploded and Scorpion would seize to exist because he would not have handled that particular lost well. He would have shut down completely and never open himself back up to anyone. That tragic lost alone would have caused the 197 genius to go down the rabbit hole never to return again.

Happy began wondering what she could have done to prevent any of the recent events from happening. Thinking back, she should have called Walter on some things that could have maybe have put a stop to some of the nonsense that led up to all of this. Going out with Linda was one thing she should have put her foot down on. They were still married at the time, she had a right to after all, besides if he never went out with Linda, he would never have bought those stupid jazz ticket and the Tahoe fiasco would never have happened. She also felt like she should have talk to Walter about letting the team know about their so-called marriage. That revelation could have put an end to a lot of needless heart ache especially with Toby. He would have never went to talk to that lunatic that goes by the name of Mark Collins. She also felt like she hurt her friends with that secret. She was always the one with trust issues now she wonders if Paige would trust her again considering she was the only other female on the team. She also began wondering when everything started to go wrong with the cyclone as a whole. Her thoughts began to center on Tim and wondered why he chose Scorpion for his Homeland Assignment and how he managed to get a say as to where he was assigned. She always thought that an agent in training was assigned to their training post not get a choice of where they want to go and given that assignment.

Sylvester sat in a seat away from the windows because no matter how many times he has been on a plane in the last three years, flying still scares him. He tried to get his mind off of the flight itself by thinking how he could patch things up with his brother. He was worried that he may have caused irreparable damaged to his relationship with Walter by not telling him that he was in constant contact with his in-laws. Right now all he wanted was to be back in Walter's good graces because he felt like he let down the one person who always made him feel strong and that was the love of his life. He also started wondering where everything started going wrong with Scorpion. He started seeing the lack of trust that Walter had with Tim but at the time he pushed Walter's trust issues to the side due to possible jealousy because of the relationship Tim was gaining with Cabe and then the personal relationship Tim was trying to gain and succeeded in having with Paige. How it escalated from there he wasn't sure. But then a thought stuck Sly, how was it that Tim got to choose his assignment with Scorpion instead of Scorpion choosing him to work for the team. How come Walter didn't have a say on who Homeland sent to train with the team but yet, Tim was allowed to choose? And more importantly, why did Tim automatically think he could just come onto the team when he was discharged from the Navy. Did he even think to consider talking to Walter about that decision considering Scorpion was Walter's company and the cyclone was Walter's team? Paige may be second in command when Walter isn't there but that doesn't mean Paige is the one and only person who makes the decision on who get hired onto the team. Paige didn't have the right to make that decision without Walter and Tim didn't have the right to decide that he was just going to stay no questions asked. So, why was it so important that Tim remained here at Scorpion. Also, why did he suddenly need to leave as quickly as he decided he needed to stay with the team.

Very little was said for the rest of the trip to Ireland but everyone had their own thoughts going through their heads. In a few hours they hope to have some of their questions answered, if not by open team discussion then by technology. As a team, they were going to do whatever it takes to bring their team back together again and become the family they once were and hopefully stronger for it.

Author's Note: I tried to catch all of my grammatical error but if I missed any that would make a beg difference in the story please PM me and I will correct it. Thank you.


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

Chapter 11: New Arrivals

Landing at the Cork Airport at around 7:00pm, the team exited the plane and made their way to collect their bags.

"Well, where to first. Do we go straight over to Walter's parent's house or go get hotel rooms?", ask Toby.

"Good question. Any ideas?", asked Happy.

"I'm not sure either, but what I do know is that I just want to sleep for a week.", said an exhausted Sylvester.

"Paige, what do you suggest for these weary geniuses?", ask Cabe.

"Hold on." Paige pulled out her phone and made a phone call. "Hey baby, are you and Walter still at his parent's house?"

Walking into the mall area, Walter started looking for Curry's Electronic Store. "Ralph, we are looking for Curry's Electronics. It is the best place to go for electronics and telescopes."

"Ok, Oh, I see it."

"Great."

Going into the electronic store everyone started looking around as Walter and Ralph made their way over to the telescopes. Sean and Louise didn't stray too far from Walter and Ralph because they both were still in awe at how easily Walter and Ralph interacted with each other.

"You know Louise, just watching them together amazes me because he has never interacted with anyone as easily as he does with Ralph."

"I know, and watching them together I hope that Walter and Paige can work out their differences and find their way back to each other. Ralph is getting ready to enter his teens and he is going to need them both and knowing how Walter was as a teen kind of makes you worry how Ralph will be during his teen years. On the other hand, anyone who doesn't know any better would actually think that Ralph is his biological son and just watching them, I can see why.

"Can I ask the both of you something?", ask Tobin.

"Sure, what is it that you want us to answer?", ask Sean.

"How is it possible that that child isn't Walter's natural child but acts just like him? I mean just watching them together, I am watching the miniature version of Walter."

"You know, I was wondering the same thing earlier myself when I was watching them together in the dining room. I honestly don't know but I'll take it.", said Louise.

Smiling, "Me too, I was wondering how I went so wrong with him as a child and yet he is the perfect father for that boy. I was helping them find that old telescope up in the attic earlier. Ralph was wanting to look at everything in the attic and Walter was taking it all in stride trying to look for the telescope himself. It was rather amusing, especially when Ralph found one of Walter's old school books that was written in Gaelic Irish. Ralph asked Walter to translate it for him and Walter told him he would at bedtime. I hate to admit it but I was a little jealous of him at that point because I wished I had all of that with Walter when he was that age.

"I hate to admit it myself but watching them in the dining room earlier, I became a little jealous as well because I felt like I missed out on the best part of his life.", said Louise.

Over by the telescopes, both geniuses were comparing telescopes and comparing prices as to which would be better to repair the old one or buy a new one.

"Well what do you think, Ralph?"

"I say we just buy a new one because we can use it quicker like tonight maybe."

Smiling, "I agree. And maybe we can drag a few people out there with us to look at the stars."

"I hope so."

"Walter?'

Looking towards the voice that just called his name, "Ruby."

"Hey, ummm, what are you up too?"  
"Not much, just looking at getting a new telescope and you?"

"Trying to find star charts for my 6th Grade Science Class. We are starting the chapter on astronomy. I was thinking about getting some star charts to see if any of the students would consider doing some stargazing maybe for extra credit."

"Sounds fun, what do you think Ralph?"

Noticing Ralph for the first time, Oh, hi. I didn't realize you had company."

"Yes, this is my son, Ralph."

"Oh well, hi. It is nice to meet you Ralph, my name is Ruby Ferguson."

Not sure what was going on here or who this woman was, Ralph greeted her in return. "Hi."

"So Ralph, what grade are you in?"

"I'm in 6th Grade in regular school."

"In regular school? Do you go to an irregular school also?"

Ralph looking at Walter like she has done lost her mind said, "No, not unless you consider college an irregular school. I am a sophomore at Cal Tech."

Stunned, "Oh ok. Umm." Looking down at the star charts, "Do either of you two know anything about star charts?"

"Yes, we do actually, what do you need to know?" ask Walter.

"Which one would be the best one to use in class?"

While Walter was helping Ruby, Ralph's phone began to ring. "Hi Mom."

"Hey baby, are you and Walter still at his parent's house?"  
"No. We came in town to look at buying another telescope. We are currently at Curry's Electronics."

"Oh ok, could you put Walter on the phone then?"

"Yes, hold on."

Handing the phone to Walter while secretly glad for the interruption, "Here, Mom wants to talk to you."

"Ok. Excuse me," taking the phone and walking away from Ruby, "Paige."

"Hey, we just arrived, umm, do you want to meet up somewhere this evening or you just want to wait until in the morning?"

Not realizing what time it was, Walter looked down at his watch, "No, we can meet at McGinty's. I didn't realize what time it was and we haven't eaten yet. The whole group is with me. Parent's included as well as Uncle Tobin."

"Ok, that sounds great and we can decide where to go from there."

"O-o-ok, umm...we'll see you there. Umm... do you want to talk to Ralph some more?"

"Uh...uh...no. I...umm...umm...I'll just talk to him when I see you guys, just tell him that I love him and see him soon ok."

"Ok." Hanging up the phone and standing there for a moment, Walter just wasn't sure if he could actually face Paige right now but he also logically knew that he would have to sooner or later. Turning back around handing Ralph his phone back and giving him his mother's message, he walked back over to Ruby to tell her that they were going to have to leave and told her which star chart would work in her class and told her where the best place to get one if she wanted one that was more up to date and better to teach her class with. After excusing himself he went about rounding everyone up in Curry's, Walter told everyone that the team has arrived and they were going to meet over at McGinty's. After paying for their intended purchase everyone exited the store to their designated meeting place.

"Ok, guys, we are going to meet Walter and Ralph and the others at a place called McGinty's. Personally though, I think afterwards I am going to get a hotel room for the night. I already know things are going to be strained between Walter and myself and I don't want to carry that tension over to Sean and Louise's house. It also saves for a big fight that I am fairly certain we are going to have before we leave here."

"I don't know about anyone else but I think getting hotel rooms outside of Mom and Dad O'Brien's house might be a good idea.", said Toby.

"I agree with Doc.", said Happy.

"Well, I think I should stay at my in-laws because I need to face Walter sooner or later with this problem and it might as well as be there.", said a rather sad Sylvester.

"Well, we can decide where we are going to stay later but I will probably follow suit and stay at a hotel myself. I think what we all should do is talk with Walter on a one-on-one basis to get everything out on the table personally and then maybe have a group discussion on everything else and try to fix us from there. So, how about we get going and go see how our boy is doing? Huh.", said Cabe.

"Personally, I don't think the problems that Walter and I have are not going to be solved overnight.", said Paige.

"From what I've read of that note he left for you and your body language, and I am not trying to be funny here, but I think your problems is going to take a few months at best to solve and that is no guarantee.", said Toby.

Walking towards the car, everyone was talking about what was the best way to approach Walter. Should they approach him as a team first or try to talk to him individually. The only thing on this particular team's mind was to try to fix the problems between them and their beloved leader and friend and hope that Scorpion can save itself.

Walter and his group arrived at McGinty's first since they were approximately ten minutes down the street. Upon entering the establishment, Walter was approached by Mr. McGinty.

"Ahh. Walter, I guess the Mrs. wasn't hallucinating after all. She said you were back in town for a little while. So, what has been keeping you in LA all this time. I'm sure its not those earthquakes I be hearing about over there?"

"No, definitely not those. I can live without those. We had one last year that registered about a 7.8 which almost caused the whole city to blow up. I do own my own company though."

"Really, what do you do?"

"Mostly IT work. Computers and such, I also do a lot of government contract work for Homeland."

"Hey Walter. Since you still like to play with computers how about you talking Dad into getting, **for those of us who actually work here** , a new computer since this one seem to have issues on a regular basis, like **hourly**.", said Shawna McGinty.

"Hey, you stop beating on that thing it might work correctly. Never mind her she is just trying to get me to spend money on things that I don't think should be replaced. So, you were saying about what you do over there in the U.S."

"That was just about it. Look, we are expecting more people to come in and join us, so is there a place we can sit that is not in the middle of the restaurant and sits eleven people?"

"Yes, you and your group can sit back here in this area. I had it fixed up so it can be closed off for private functions. There is plenty of room in there for you."

"Thank you."

Looking at the whole group for what seemed like the first time, he acknowledged Sean and Louise who were long time friends of his as well as Tobin. He also greeted Veronica and Drew but the person that seemed to catch his attention the most was Ralph."

"I'm sorry, Mr. McGinty, let me introduce you, this is Veronica Dineen, Drew Baker, and Ralph Dineen-O'Brien, my son. I just signed the papers on getting full parental rights on him today. Drew here is his biological father."

"Oh. Not that its any of my business nor am I judging here, but why did you do that?"

"I am dealing with a personal situation and I felt that it was best if I go ahead and decide legal guardianship for my son. I feel like Walter was the best person for the job and the best fit for Ralph. I just saw it as a necessary thing to do."

"Oh, ok, Understandable. Your just making sure that he was taken care of when the need arises then. Hey, Walter, after we get you and your bunch settled you maybe want to fancy a game of chess later."

"Sure if you don't get upset when I beat you."

"Ha! You mean when I beat you. You may have gotten lucky and beat me when you were a child but that doesn't mean you can do that again."

Smirking, "Ok, Mr. McGinty, anything you say."

"Follow me so I can get the lot of you seated and get you out of the middle of the doorway. It is starting to fill up in here."

Following Mr. McGinty to the back of the restaurant, Walter started to feel a little apprehensive because he wasn't sure how he was going to react to seeing Paige face to face again. Since he has been here in Ireland, he has calmed down and was trying to get over what Paige had did to him and he even thought about moving forward without her even though it was going to be hard but he has thought about it. He has even develop some interest in Ruby but he isn't sure if that was going to be fair to Ruby since he was going to have to go back to LA here soon. All he knew was that he needed to find a way to calm himself down and keep his emotions in check.

Sitting around the table making idle chitchat, Mrs. McGinty entered the room to greet her long time friends not to mention she wanted to get a glimpse of Walter's son.

Giving Louise a hug and whispering in her ear, "Have you been holding out on me about your grandson?"

"No, but we can talk about that later."

"Ok, I'll hold you too that." Looking up and noticing her daughter walking into the room, "What do you need dear?

"That stupid computer is acting up again and thought maybe since dad says there is nothing wrong with it he could get it to work right. Because I am about ready to throw it across the room as it is. You know where he is?"

"No, but please don't throw the computer across the room either, we need it for the rest of the night."

Mmmm... ok but I say that thing needs to be replaced."

"Shawna, what is the computer doing?" asked Walter who couldn't help but overhear the mother/daughter conversation.

"Its own thing, other than that I can't tell but I can tell you what it isn't doing and that is accepting all orders that gets sent back to the kitchen. The kitchen doesn't receive the orders in the order they are entered into the order station. Say I put your order in now and two minutes later another customer's order is placed, then the customer's order that placed after yours is received but your order never makes it back there even though it was placed first."

Getting up from the table, "Would it help if I came out there and looked at it myself."

"If you think you can make a difference with that stupid thing then go for it."

Smirking, Walter got up from the table and asked Ralph to stay here with his grandparents and he would be back momentarily then followed Shawna out of the room.

Walking into the restaurant, Ruby saw Mr. McGinty and approached him. "Hi Mr. McGinty, do you need any more help tonight."

Knowing the struggles that she is going through he decided to tell her yes. It doesn't help that he has a soft spot for the young woman because not only is she his own daughter's best friend he also looks at her as a daughter.

"Come to think of it Ruby, I could use your help tonight. There is a special party in the back room that you could wait on tonight and if things keep picking up I'll just let you stay until things die down. Fair enough."

"Sure, thanks Mr. McGinty."

"No problem child, no problem."

Not noticing Walter at the other end of the bar, she turned around to go out to her car to get her uniform so she could change.

Looking over to where Shawna was standing Mr. McGinty noticed Walter around the computer and decided to make his way over to where they were standing.

"What is going on over here?"

"Walter is looking at the computer to see what is wrong with it since you don't think there is a problem. Personally, I believe that this thing needs to be replaced since it only accepts orders that it wants to accept which causes havoc out here on the floor when people are waiting for their food and the order never made it back to the kitchen in first place. It would also help if you had one more extra station to place orders as well."

Walter trying not to get involved in the father/daughter disagreement interrupted, "This is a temporary fix but it would be best to look at it when you are not open to the public. I need to be able to get into areas that will take a little extra time and time is what you don't have right now considering you are starting to get busy again."

"Fine, fine. But first, how much is this going to cost me?"

"Ughhh! Dad, I can't believe you at this point.?, said an irritated Shawna who just stormed off.

Both men looking at her then at each other kind of shrugged. "Your a business owner, you know what I am talking about when it comes to spending any unnecessary money. So, I was being serious."

"I get what you are saying Mr. McGinty. How about I come in here in the morning and I will take a better look at things and give you an estimated cost analysis afterwards."

"Ok, I can accept that. Can you be in here by 7:00am."

"Yes, but I might have company with me. I will more and likely have Ralph with me."

"That will be ok. May be I can teach him how to play chess while you work."

"Yea, right. He already knows how to play."

"Well if it isn't the biggest nerd in all of Cork. Where have you been hiding all these years. Jail for hacking into someplace you weren't suppose too?", said a laughing Kerwin Addlywood.

Walter looking over to where Kerwin was sitting remembered that he was the biggest bully that Walter had to contend with in all of his high school years. He was far worst than either of the Quirk boys combined. "Shut up Kerwin, and to answer your question no I haven't been in jail all this time. I have been taking care of my sister up until she died last year and getting Scorpion up and running which is growing on a regular basis. That is probably more than what you have accomplish since high school."

"You know you might want to watch that mouth of yours and remember your place on the food chain over here Walter but considering you may have forgotten a few things over the last few years; I am going to let that pass, this time."

Shaking his head, "You know Kerwin, I hate to see what kind of example you have given to your children if you have any because from what I see you are still a bad influence in the attitude department. Just leave me alone while I am here and I'll leave you alone, if you don't mind."

Walter began to walk away when Kerwin went to grab Walter by the shoulder to take a swing at him when he was grabbed from behind. Turning to see who grabbed him he noticed Connor and Thomas Quirk both looking at him with determined looks in their eyes.

"What did ya do that for? Its just Walter O'Brien the biggest freak in all of Cork."

"You know what Kerwin, from what we heard you started the whole mess and the man asked you to walk away and leave him alone. So, just do as he asked and leave him be. Besides, he has enough things to worry about and I'm guessing you are at the bottom of the food chain on his list.", said Thomas.

Smiling to himself and grateful that he made friends out of those two, he went to thank them and walked back to his table when he noticed a particular blond had walked up to the bar. All they could do was stand there staring at each other for what seemed like a life time. For a moment, everyone around them seem to vanish and everyone around them seem to notice how they seemed lost into each other.

"Kerwin Addlywood, now you listen to me, one more outburst like that I will have thrown out of here tonight. I will not have that behavior here in my establishment. You got that? Do I make myself clear?", said an angry Mr. McGinty.

Mr. McGinty bringing them out of their trance, Walter looked around and noticed everyone was standing around and watching everything play out then turning to look back at Paige, "Umm...guys..." Never taking his eyes off of Paige, "We are umm... we are uhh... we are sitting back here." Turning around and walking away, Walter felt himself slowly loosing control of his emotions." The only thought he had on his mind was, "Oh Boy."

Author's Notes: Curry's Electronics is an actual place in Ireland. I did some research on places over there such as stores and other places to shop. Even though some places that I've mention here are places I made up or at least I think I made up like McGinty's, I also look up actual stores names to use. I hope no one minds me using actual location names and if so please let me know and I can always make something up in place of it. I have no intentions of offending anyone. My only intention is to write a good story for everyone to enjoy. Thank You.


	12. Chapter 12

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

Author's Note: This is a Tissue Alert Chapter for those of you that needs a warning.

Chapter 12 Trying To Clear The Air: Part I

Walter entered the area where everyone was sitting with the rest of the team following him, "Ralph, your mother is here."

Turning around and getting up from the table, Ralph consciously walked over to his mother knowing that she was more than upset with him and wrapped his arms around her. "Hi mom. Look,I am sorry for what I did and worrying you like I did but I had to do it. Also, please don't get too mad at my father and grandma please. I kind of coerce them in to coming with me because I told them that I was coming with or without them."

Taking Ralph over to another booth away from the main table and sitting down to look Ralph eye to eye, "Ok, but Ralph...umm..." trying not to cry and sniffling, "Ralph what you did scared me more than Walter ever could. You are my everything and if I ever lost you I wouldn't know how to handle it because I love so much that I don't ever want to loose you. It is bad enough that Walter and I are having some serious problems to contend with right now and I want so desperately to try to fix things between us that I was willing to let Walter come back when he was ready. We didn't need you to force us together to fixed things between us by running over here to him. I also feel that there must have been an underlying issue for you to do what you did that you needed to get my attention this way. So for now, we are going to table this discussion because right now I just want to appreciate the fact that I got you back in my arms. That being said, **don't you ever pull another stunt like that again. You are also grounded until further notice so no asking about not being grounded**. Ok" By now Paige had tears streaming down her face.

"Ok, but just take it easy on them. I'm the ringleader in all of this, not either of them."

"Fair enough. I won't send them to the firing squad but they are going to receive punishment in their part in all of this because they should have called me and let me know so I could have at least tried to talk to you and stop you, not leave me a note like you ran down the store and back."

"Ok Mom. Just don't be too harsh on them, pleeeaseee."

"Ok"

Getting up and wiping her face, Paige and Ralph walked back over to the table and greeted Walter's family.

"Hi Sean, Louise, Tobin, how is everyone doing?"

"We are ok, you on the other hand has a plate full from what we gather.", said Louise.

"You have no idea.", said Paige.

Ruby had just entered the room and was waiting by Sean and Louise while everyone was taking their seats. She not only noticed Walter but she also noticed the blonde woman sitting on the other side of his son and wondered if that was the child's mother. She also notice then tension that suddenly appeared in the room when they both sat down at the table.

"Oh, hi Ruby. We didn't know you were working this evening.?" said Louise.

Taking her eyes off of Walter, "Oh, hi Mrs, O'Brien, I wasn't actually. I just stop in on occasion to see if Mr. or Mrs. McGinty needs any help. I'm still a substitute teacher and since I don't get paid the same as a regular teacher, I pick up shift here and there to help make ends meet."

"Oh, I wasn't aware of that. I'm sure your hard work and patience will pay off sooner or later. It is nice of Aileen and Seamus to let you work. We're sure that is a big help."

"It is. So what can I get everyone to drink."

Getting everyone's drink order, Ruby couldn't help but wonder who was the blonde that was seated on other side of his son. She also couldn't help but notice the tension coming from both of them was thick enough to cut with a sharp knife.

Going over to put in the drink order, "Hey, Shawna, who is the blonde in the room back there with the O'Briens? I feel that your father sent me back there to the lion's den for some reason. There is enough tension between her and Walter to fill the ocean."

"I don't know. I was out here when she walked in. Her and the rest of the group came in just after the Quirk men pulled Kerwin Addlywood off of Walter. When she approached Walter, it was like those two forgot they were standing in a crowded room. They couldn't take their eyes off of each other. Then when they realized they were not alone, Walter just couldn't seem to get a full sentence out while at the same time couldn't take his eyes off of her. I am telling you now, I have known Walter O'Brien since we were children and he NEVER acted that way with anyone. Short, curt, to the point and blunt but never to the point he couldn't function. It was like he was mesmerize or something. Why?"

"I um I was just wondering."

"You like him don't you?"

Trying to hide the smile that was forming on her face, "No, I hardly know him."

"Well I can tell you this much, I may not know exactly what he has been doing since he left Ireland when he was sixteen up until now but I can tell you he is the smartest person I know. Not to mention he is still good looking."

"He seems fairly knowledgeable. Did you know his son was in college?"

"No, but then again I wasn't aware he had a son but either way not surprising."

How did you find that out?"

"I ran into them over at Curry's this evening. He introduced his son to me then. I asked him what grade he was in and he told me 6th grade in regular school and when I was trying to be funny and asked him if he went to an irregular school he looked at me weird and told me he also went to college. Needless to say I wasn't prepared for that answer and I was quite shocked."

"With what you just said there is no doubt in my mind that would be Walter's son. It sounds like something Walter would say also. Do you want some help with those drinks. Please say yes because I want an excuse to go in there and take a peek at Walter junior myself."

"Sure, I could use the help and just so you know like his daddy he is just as cute."

There was an awkward silence that had settled among the Scorpion team. It seemed like everyone was ignoring the giant elephant in the room.

Trying to break the ice a little, "How was everyone's flight?", asked Sean.

"It was good, but then again flying on a private jet makes any flight better. Hey, there is a goal for Scorpion, how about investing in a jet. Considering the number of cases we have out of the country. It would be a good investment. What do you say Walt?", asked Toby.

Looking at Toby with some skepticism, "Your right it would be a good investment but are willing to donate half of your paycheck along with everyone elses to help pay for it and the pilot and all of the other cost to maintain the aircraft. We do go out of the country on several occasions for work but Scorpion doesn't have enough capital to put aside for a million dollar piece of equipment.", stated Walter.

At this point Ruby and Shawna walked into the room and began passing out drinks.

"You know looking back now maybe you shouldn't have given up that $15 million dollars that you won for that rocket. It could come in handy right about now.", stated Toby in a joking manner.

"Either way I'm glad I did it. Receiving it was too late as it was and it just didn't matter to me besides you know everything else that was going on with me at that point."

"197 I agree with you on that issue. It was the best thing you could have done at the time but still $15 millions can come in handy every once in a while."

Feeling that someone was staring at him he just happen to look up over his left shoulder and notice Shawna staring at him like she wasn't for sure what to think of him. "Um something wrong Shawna?

"I don't know. I'm not sure how to take what I just heard at fact or fiction. You really really gave up $15 million American dollars? I mean couldn't you have gotten another rocket with that?"  
"Yes, Shawna, I really gave up $15 million dollars and yes I could have gotten another rocket with it but it wouldn't have been the same. I initially gotten that rocket to win that prize money so I could fund research on Megan's disease and try to save her. But, since she died before they announced the winner the money just didn't seem to matter to me anymore. The rocket was meant for Megan and since Megan always like looking at the stars, Sylvester and I agreed that placing Megan's ashes in the rocket was a proper send off for her."

"I can respect that, Still I 'm in shocked at you giving up all that money but I can still respect that." Upon that both women exited the dinning room.

"I have one question for Ralph, and I am asking this question for a small group of people if not for everyone in here. How did you find Walter so quickly?", asked Happy.

"I think I will plead the fifth for now.", stated Ralph who was looking between Walter and Paige.

"Look before he starts giving an explanation of all the hows and whys, let Walter and I have a talk with him first. Please.", stated Paige.

"Agreed." said the cyclone.

Soon after receiving their meals, everyone started making small talk about the election and what not The only thing that wasn't address was the obvious and that was a conversation for a more private place.

Walter hadn't said a word since Shawna and Ruby left the room. He suddenly felt the room enclosed around him. Walter tried to get up casually to leave when he was stop by his father.

In a low voice, "Boyo, are you alright?"

"I doubt it but either way I am sure I will be eventually."

"Ok, I'm here if you need to talk. You know that right?"

"I do now dad, I do now."

Getting up and turning to Paige, "Paige, can I talk to you please?"

Looking up at Walter, "Yes, Walter, of course."

The rest of the table watched as Walter and Paige got up an exited the room.

Walking out into the main part of the restaurant, the couple found an empty booth in a reasonably empty section of the dinning room.

"I don't know where to start with any of this and I know you won't help me with this so I am going to apologize for screwing up first because you know I will."

"Walter, before you start apologizing please know that I have screwed up too on a lot of things especially with you."

"Look, I umm...I ummm... I really don't want to have this conversation here. So if you don't mind, I mean...", taking a deep breath...

Sitting there staring at each other for a moment, neither one of them didn't know what to say next. They both knew there is a lot of painful issues to address but they also knew this was not the place to talk about those issues.

"Look, I don't know what arrangements that was made for the night but can I make a suggestion?"

"The team talked about getting hotel rooms tonight with the exception of Sylvester. He thought about staying with your parents tonight and maybe talk to you to settle things between the two you. What do you suggest?"  
"My suggestion is let the team including Veronica and Drew stay where ever they want. If they want to stay at a hotel or my parents they can, they are old enough and smart enough to figure that our for themselves. Ralph can stay with my parents and I am sure they won't run off to another country with him and you and can come with me to some place private so we can talk without anyone eavesdropping, or thinking we are going to kill each other."

"I'm good with that. When do you want to leave?"

"Whenever you are ready. Just so you know, I do need to be back in here by 7:00 in the morning. I can have dad pick me up in the morning so you can have a car this way you have adequate transportation and you can leave and not be stuck there all day by yourself."

"Ok.

Getting up from the table, the couple made their way back to the rest of the group to see what arrangements that the rest of the team has made as far as their sleeping arrangements are concern. Ralph was told that he was going to stay with his grandparents while Walter and Paige went somewhere to talk things out. Paige also gave explicit instructions to her mother and ex not to leave until she had a conversation with them over what they did. After deciding who was going where everyone got into their respective cars and went their separate ways for the night..

Ruby was over by the bar when she noticed Walter and Paige walking out of the private section of the dining room and going to sit in a booth where they thought to have a little more privacy. She thought about getting to know Walter a little better before today but now she knows that would be a waste of time since she found out about his wife and son. She positioned herself where she could watch them from the bar. She noticed that there was still a lot of tension between them and wondered if they were having problems and wondered what or who is the cause of the problems. Either way she just wished she had a shot at Walter O'Brien but watching them together she wondered if she ever really did because no matter how much hurt she saw in his eye she also saw that there was a tremendous amount of love for the woman if front of him as well. Unbeknownst to Ruby, she wasn't the only one watching the couple in that booth.

Pulling into the driveway, Walter and Paige got out of the car and walked up to the house. Upon entering the house, Walter turned off his own security system. Paige began looking around in awe. The house wasn't fully furnished but it was adequate enough to be livable. "Nice place, whose is it?"

"Mine."

Raising an eyebrow, "Yours?"

"Yes, I was hoping for something more but the way things are right now it is just wishful thinking on my part."

Nodding her head, "Well, it sill looks great."

" **WHY DID YOU GIVE UP ME, Paige? WHY"**

The sudden outburst startled Paige so she just stood there and stared at Walter, "I didn't Walter, I never gave up on you you gave up on us."

" **No, you gave up on me when Tim walked in that door. I thought you were different , I thought that maybe just maybe that you saw something in me that no else did or just ignored but I guess I was wrong. I just never knew how much you wanted normal in your life. You wanted it so bad that you abandon me for it. You wanted to get away from me so bad after you got mad about the Tahoe incident that you started running and forgot to stop. You left me behind. You gave up on me and all but shoved me to the side and all for Tim. I know I can't emote like Tim and I will never be athletic like Tim or Drew for that matter or and be that normal guy like Tim but did I make you hate me and despise me that much that you wanted to take everything from me and give to Tim, because you did. You gave him everything, you even tried to give him Scorpion Paige. So, why? Tim didn't do anything to get Scorpion started. He didn't work to the get the capital for it. He did NOTHING but show up and drop his bags and said he was staying. You may have allowed him to move in with you and you may have all but given Ralph to him as well and freely given yourself to him and that is on you. But I never wanted him at Scorpion. I have a problem when some just shows up and gets someone I love shot in the back."**

" **One you gave up on us too. You all but pushed me into Tim's arms. I gave you that one chance to ask me to stay in LA but you didn't you told me to go and yet just showed up in Tahoe and for what Walter? Tell me now why you came to Tahoe? What did you think to accomplish because the way I see it you deserved to loose me."**

Calming himself down, "I went there to tell you that I loved you. After that I had no idea what I was going to do. After we got that assignment and I was trying to tell you that when we had a missile launched at us and then again outside of the building but you walked off. I said it into the coms not realizing that we were back in com range and so the whole team including Tim and Cabe heard me when I said I loved you that was when Tim all but threatened me. He said that "we" were going to have a talk when he got back. But I don't think that would have mattered to you because you took your com out and did not hear that but then again you didn't hear any of it. But no matter, you wouldn't have believed me if I told you what he said. Who knows you may have encouraged him to come in and pound the crap out me anyway because by then you could've cared less either way."

"For one that is not a fair statement. I would not have condoned his actions if he had come back in and hit you."

"But you still wouldn't have cared. Let me not forget that it also doesn't help to have friends who thought Tim was the better person for you either. The whole damn team heard me say how I felt about you and they all but told me I wasn't good enough for you and I may never will be. It seemed like everyone on the team was against me telling you how I felt. For starters, Cabe told me that I wasn't ready for you and to let Tim have you because for some reason if I told you then it wouldn't be fair to you or Ralph. He said I was half baked or something. I don't even know what he was talking about. But that doesn't matter because I also had Toby telling me that I should move on from you because you were with Tim and you were happier with him. And you know since I have been here I have actually thought about moving on from you. You may have allowed me to adopt Ralph but that doesn't mean I have to stay with you because it is clear that you don't want me in your personal life you never did. You made that point loud and clear every time you and Tim walked into that garage and acted so unprofessional that I am surprised that I didn't find the two of you up in my bed and if you had I don't ever want to know about it. You also made it even clearer every time the two of walked out the door with Ralph every evening to go home **together**. So, the two of you were sleeping together so what, I didn't need to know about it.

"Excuse me, Walter O'Brien I can't even begin to believe you just said that to me. One, I had no idea that Tim ever said that to you nor did I know what Cabe and Toby said to you about you wanting me to tell how you felt. Secondly, how dare you insinuate that I slept with Tim at all much less be up in your bed. Where did that come from? Tim and I...we never crossed that line in the office."

"You never uncrossed it either. Every time I turned around you two were all over each other non-stop. Ask the rest of the cyclone if you don't believe me. It didn't matter where you guys were, you two were always kissing and hugging and hanging off of each other. Even after the rocket incident I felt like it got worst after that. When I remembered it I realized just how much you hated and despised me. It seemed like you would come into work and sit at your desk and do paperwork and that is all you wanted to do. I can hire anybody for that Paige, I just can't hire anyone who could help me with the public and deal with relating to normal people. Not like you can but I have gotten the feeling ever since then you don't want to be there. Its like no matter how hard I try I just can't get you back not as a friend not anything. You chose to become nothing more than employee to me and sometimes you seem like you don't want that anymore.

"Walter, I never meant to hurt you like that and trust me you never stopped being a friend to me. After the rocket, I tried to get you to remember what happened but Toby told me not to because it would only hurt you.", by now Paige had begun crying, "I wanted you to remember because I wanted to be sure that was really you telling me that you love me not the person who was pretending that I was there. I wanted to hear that from YOU Walter from YOU. I have waited for two and half years on you and listened to you say that love was nothing but junk science and that it didn't exist, so what changed, huh, what change Walter? Answer that question for me."  
"You."  
" **Then why didn't you ever tell me. Why try speed dating? Why date Linda? And twice for that matter. Don't you think that didn't hurt me? I only really started going out with Tim because YOU rejected me time and time again. It seemed like the only thing that I had of any interest to you was my son.** I know that sounds creepy but that is how I felt."

By now Walter had tears in his eyes and in a choked voice, "You scared me. I have never been in love before you, not with anyone Paige. I didn't believe in love and I didn't think it existed because I never had anyone outside my sister who I thought could love me back until I met you and Ralph. I was so afraid of loosing you that I was scared that if I made the attempt to date you that I could loose the two best people in my life because I would have been the one to destroy the relationship between us because I am so bad at relationships and trying to keep them for more than three months. It didn't work out with Linda because she wasn't you."

"You know that's kind of funny coming from you, that you can't keep a relationship going for more that three months when you were secretly married to Happy for six years, you do realize that don't you."

"Yea, I know but you also know why we got married."

"Yes, and I am willing to overlook that because it was obvious that nothing ever came of it for the last three years that I saw. I just wished you trusted me enough to confide in me over it."

"I take it that Tim is already in Jordan?"

"I don't know where he is. We broke up on Christmas day when he got mad because we were trying to find you and he didn't want to help and then he started ordering me around like I was someone under his command not to mention he acted like Ralph was of no consequence to him when he ordered me out of the garage and said Ralph could either go with Drew and my mother or come with us but either way it didn't matter to him. I wasn't having it."

By now they both had set down the couch, both tired from the yelling and screaming and the crying. Neither one knew where to go from there.

Before Paige knew it she was crying again over what she was about to ask, "Walter, why did you tell me my life would have better if I would have just let you fall?"  
Walter had tears in his eyes when he answered her, "Because, I felt like you lied to me and you never wanted me in your life to begin with. When you said you loved me and wanted us together forever and then you chose Tim anyway. When I remembered everything I just wished you never tried to save me because watching the two of you was worst than death. When you suggested that we go to that cabin for Christmas, I dreaded it because I was just going to be as alone up there as I would have been at the garage and believe after everyone left I was just that. Alone. Also, I felt that you two planned it to have more of a romantic setting for the two you and it also felt like another slap in the face because I was forced to have to sit there and watch the two of you together for one long torturous weekend. Then I started to think about Ralph's kidnapping and then I felt like you were blaming me for all of it as well as Tim taking the job in Jordan which he was the one who started that argument at the cabin because he realized that I was sill in love with you and but you only heard the part I said he was never going to be a part of Scorpion and that is all you wanted to take from it, nothing else. I just didn't care anymore. You know, you never answered my question, why did you try to give Tim Scorpion anyway?

"One, I never blamed you for Ralph's kidnapping. All you guys saw was someone in trouble and that what Scorpion does, save people. I also asked Tim about that argument and he just said you two were butting heads but I knew it was more than that. I think he knew it too. Walter, you have to believe me I never tried to give Tim Scorpion or anything else for that matter. Regardless what you believe I have NEVER slept with Tim. I may have kissed him a lot but that was it nothing else nothing more and he never stayed at my place nor have I ever stayed at his. I didn't think it was appropriate for Ralph to get up the next morning and finding him in my bed nor was I ready to take that step with him. I just couldn't do it. Not with Tim. Not when I am in love with you and I can't seem to get pass those feelings and I don't want too."

"What are we going to do because I don't think this fixes anything between us? I mean it is a start but that is about it. I am tired of fighting with you over every little thing and I am tired of getting those looks of what I considered to be hatred from you. I just feel lost right now."

"I know Walter, I feel the same way. Look, I know this may or may not help and I was really wanting to discuss this with Ralph first but I haven't had the chance so I'll just bring it up now. While we were trying to locate you, I called Richard Elia and asked if he had heard from you and when he said no he then asked me what was going on so I made an appointment to meet with him to explain everything. During that meeting, I asked if there was some possible way I could come and work for him on a **temporary basis** until we get back on tract if that was even possible. Walter, I don't want to leave the team but at the same time I couldn't help but think that a separation would be good for us. It would give us the space we need from each other and yet be able to work on getting us back to where we want to be. I was going to give you the option on fixing us or tender my letter of resignation with visitation rights to Ralph. He would continue coming over to the garage after school during the week and I pick him up from there and on Friday's he would just stay over there with you and I pick him up on Monday evening if those terms are ok with you. Your choice."

"I'll take the terms for visitation but you leaving is all your choice, I refuse to be the bad guy here and fire you, but I really want to fix us too. Is this what a divorce suppose to feel like because I never felt this when I signed those divorce papers with Happy. This feeling of loss, I feel like this is my worst nightmare coming true."

Reaching up for the first time since she could remember, Paige reached up and ran her fingers through Walter's hair, "I know, me too. But, I really think this is for the best for us right now and its just a temporary fix until we can get the real problems fixed. Ok."  
Without thinking about it, Walter leaned into Paige's touch, "How do we go about fixing us?"

"We can go to counseling. When we get back to LA, we can start looking at a marriage counselors. No offense and please don't get me wrong I love Toby to death, but I don't think he would be the best choice for us. "

"For starters, do you think a marriage counselor is what we need since we are,you know, we're not married. And as far as Toby is concerned, I totally agree with you on that and I just don't want the team involved in our personal problems at this point. I kind of feel that they sabotaged us enough."

"I kind of think a marriage counselor will do us good but if you want to go back to Dr. Rizzuto we can go there. Also, from what you just said about what they told you not to do, I agree. Also, it probably wouldn't hurt for the whole team seek group counseling. What do you think."

"Any counselor for us personally would be fine but I think Dr. Rizzuto would be best for the team."

Walter and Paige spent the rest of the night talking and planning on what would be the best course of action to healing each other and the rest of the team. Walter also confided into Paige about what he put in the notes that he left for the rest of the team and Paige told him he should talk to the team on an individual basis and the fact that they both need to tell them that they are going to seek professional help outside of the team for their personal issues. Sometime during the night, they both fell asleep on the couch sitting next to each other.

The next morning Sean arrived at Walter's house. He knocked a couple of times on the front door and then decided to check the front door and noticing it was unlocked he turned the knob and carefully walked inside not knowing what he was walking into. He then looked around and noticed the couch and the couple laying on it. As much as he hated to do it he had to.

Shaking Walter awake trying not to wake Paige, "Walter, Walter, wake up. You are going to be late. You told me that you needed to be at Seamus's to help him with his computer this morning."

Looking up and noticing his dad in front of him he started to move when he noticed some weight on him and looking down he then noticed Paige in his arms. "Ok dad, umm I am getting up give me a few minutes to change clothes."

Trying not to wake Paige up had proven to be unsuccessful, he got up from the couch and went upstairs.

"Good morning.", said Sean.

"Good morning." said Paige, "Where is the coffee because I definitely need it."

Smiling, "No offense but both of you look rough this morning."'

"I feel rough this morning. Is Ralph with you?"

Sitting down on the couch next to her, "He was having issues getting up this morning too. I told him that I would take him to Walter later but first I needed to pick Walter up and take him to Seamus's first."

"Ok, he is hard to get up sometimes."

"Like someone else I know. Louise and I was talking and we also have been watching Walter and Ralph interact with each other and we are both amazed at how easily he connects with Ralph and how much Ralph acts like Walter."

"Yea, I know. Toby made the remark a couple of years ago that I was raising Walter."

Laughing at the remark, "Look I know its none of this is my business and I told Walter that I will support him no matter what but I just have to ask, are you two going to be ok?"

"Honestly, I don't know but I like to think we are on the right track to fixing us."

"That is good to hear."

Hearing Walter coming down the stairs, "Ok dad I'm ready."

"Ok.", Looking between Walter and Paige, "I'll just meet you out in the car." with that Sean got up and walked out the door.

"Ok", said Walter calling after his him. "I'll be out there in a moment." Walter standing in front of Paige in an awkward silence. "Um...look if you want, my bedroom is upstairs at the end of the hall. You can either go up there and get some more rest or whatever you need to do to get ready for the day. It is up to you. I'll see you l-later then."

"Ok, bye Walter, I'll see you later on then. Be careful ok."

Nodding his head, "Ok. Oh um Paige, I think tonight we need to bring Ralph here for his interrogation.", said Walter turning to leave.

Smiling, "I totally agree. Oh, Walter, one more thing before you leave."

Stopping and turning back, "What is it?

"Where is the coffee?"

Chuckling, Walter led Paige into the kitchen and got the coffee for her as well as her cinnamon.

"Later."

"Later.", said Walter who was smiling when he walked out of the door.


	13. Chapter 13

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

Author's Note: The ending to this chapter may be a little weak but I had a little difficulty in writing this chapter.

Chapter 13: Trying To Clear The Air: Part II

Getting into the car so Sean can take him into town, "I'm ready."

Pulling out of the driveway, "Are you ok this morning?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be."

"No reason, just asking is all. You look like you've been ran over by a bus."

"Been there, done that."

Giving his son a sideways glance, "Is that another one of those stories that your mother shouldn't know about?"

Laughing a little, "I don't know, maybe. It depends on what you think mom would say about me and the rest of the team in an RV going down a curvy and winding road on a downhill grade at approximately hundred miles an hour. The RV we were in had an on-board computer and it had been hacked and the only way to gain control of it was for Happy and me to get on oversize skateboards with some rope and roll underneath it while going down the road with Paige trying to steer it to keep from going off of the road and over a cliff. We were also hoping we stop before we made it to a curve that was next to impossible to make with that size of a vehicle. I mean I don't have a problem telling her about any of these cases that we have done, although I will have to leave out certain details pertaining to security issues, but other than that, I can tell her."  
Laughing a little,"Walter, I think you are best not to tell her about any of your cases because she will end up with nightmares. I think your safe bet is to stick with Ralph or your personal life with your mother, not your more interesting cases. Whatever you do tell her, just don't scare her."

Laughing, "Ok, I promise not to tell her about me jumping on a commuter train that was doing 98 miles per hour because Paige and Ralph were stuck on board only to find out it was sabotaged because someone wanted to steals some coins."

Laughing, "Yea, never tell her that one either. I like to keep her around for another fifty years."

In a more serious tone, "I do have one question for you though, do you think you and Paige are going to be ok. Do you think the two of you will get back to the same two people I met last year?

"I don't know dad. I hope so. We are at least talking to each other now and I know that nothing was really solved last night but it was a start. We have talked about seeking professional counseling outside of the team. We want to keep our personal lives separate and apart from Scorpion. Its not the we don't trust the rest of the team its just...its just it seems like they were for us being together before Tim and after Tim showed up, they all of a sudden seemed to think I wasn't good enough for her. It was like they were keeping us apart on purpose and neither one of us knows why. Now things are so messed up we don't know if we can fix anything. Paige suggested a marriage counselor but the thing of it is is that we are not married so I am not sure if they could help or not. Personally, I want us better than the two people you saw last year."

"You never know, even though you two are not married, you both are still raising a child like a married couple, so maybe a marriage counselor would be the best option for the both of you. You know from what I have seen and heard, the two of you make the perfect team, not only for Scorpion but for Ralph most of all. Your mother and I have stood and watched the two of you together and we are so amazed by the two of you that all we see is father and son. Ralph is you Walter, trust me.", trying to gain control of his emotions, "I hate to admit it but the other day up in the attic, I became jealous of you because of the relationship you have with Ralph is the one I wished I had with you. I never realized what I actually missed with you until the other day and I am proud of the father that you are becoming to that child knowing that you didn't have to but did. I couldn't be more proud of you for that."

The rest of the car ride to McGinty's was made in comfortable silence with Walter staring out of the window.

Paige decided to go upstairs and get ready for the day but she also couldn't help herself for wanting to look around a little. The house was nice and spacious. The downstairs was an open floor plan where the living room, dining room, and kitchen was all sectioned off but you could see the expanse of the entire room. There was also a half bath downstairs and a nice size laundry room and a coat closet. The upstairs had four bedrooms and two full baths. All of the bedrooms were decent size and comfortable looking. Looking around, Paige started wishing that she had a house back in LA instead of a condo. Come down too it, she wished she had all of this with Walter back in LA. Maybe someday, she thought. She decided to go ahead and get ready for her day because she still needed to talk to a couple of people so she can get them sent back to the other side of the world. Walking into the master bedroom to shower and changed she look around and thought she could definitely get use to this house.

Arriving at McGinty's, Walter and Sean got out of the car and walked up to the front door. As they went to enter, they found the door locked. They tried knocking a few times and Sean finally decided to call Seamus so they could be let in.

"Seamus, hey Walter and I are standing at the front door, could you be so kind to come and let us in, please?"  
"What front door are you standing at there, Sean?"

"The one that leads into your restaurant. It is 7:10. I know we are ten minutes late and surely you didn't decide to go back home over ten minutes."

"No of course not, I forgot about Walter coming this morning is all."

Chuckling, "Ok, how long will you be?"

"At least and hour. I'm still in my pajamas, Ok. So, let this old fool get ready for the day and I will be there."

"Ok, I'll tell him.", Hanging up the phone Sean shaking his head look at Walter, "He forgot you were coming in this morning and he is still at home in his pajamas."

Smirking, "That is ok dad, I can just sit here and wait. You can go ahead and go back home if you need too. By the way, where is Ralph at this morning?"

"Like you were this morning still in bed and didn't want to get up, the only difference was he was curled up in a ball and not around a beautiful woman. Ha Ha."

Blushing, "Yea, that wasn't intentional. We fell asleep on the couch at some point last night and we were both in a sitting position at that. I have no idea when either of us layed down on the couch. Oh and by the way, I wouldn't say that about Ralph in front of Paige just yet. You may want to wait say about ten years or so."

Laughing, "Understood, do you want me to stay here and wait with you or do you want me to go an get Ralph. You did tell him he could come up here with you."

"You can go and get him. I'm big boy, I think I can stay here by myself for a little while."

"Alright. I will be back here in a little while then."

After Sean left, Walter went over to the bench and sat down to wait. He decided to pull out his laptop and logged into his security cameras around the house. As he was looking through the footage, he noticed something interesting. Someone entered his house and he knows exactly who it is but the question is why? While looking through the rest of the footage trying to figure out what he was looking for and why, Walter had an unexpected visitor approach him.

"What are you doing here so early this morning? Do you realize that this place is closed until 11:00 am." said Officer Doogin.

"I know and I am waiting on Mr. McGinty who will be here in approximately 52 minutes.", said Walter without looking at his watch. But I do want to thank you for showing up, it saves me time looking for you."

"Ok, why would you be looking for me?"

"I would like to report a break-in at my house."

"When did this break-in occur and was anything taken?"

"The break-in happened a couple of days ago and nothing appears to be missing?"

"Why are you just now reporting the break-in?

"I just found out about it.", that was when Walter turned his computer around and showed Officer Doogin the security footage from the inside of his house. "Would you like to explain to me or would you like to explain to your superiors? Either way is fine by me."

Ian just stood there in shock looking at the video footage of him going through Walter's house. Since he knew there was no denying it and he didn't know what to say for himself, he opted for the truth. "Look, the truth is I don't know if I can trust you with the real reason behind as to why I did what I did. I don't know you and I have tried to do a background check on you to see who you are but I keep hitting brick walls. So, here is the deal, you tell me who are and why you are here and I will tell you why I let myself in your house. Deal?"

Looking at Doogin unphased by his proposal, "Let me tell you this, in less than five minutes, I can pull up an entire background check on you all the way to the day you were born and I can virtually erase you just as quick. So here is the deal, you have 24 hours to decide on whether or not to tell me why you broke into my house and what you were looking for or I go to your superiors and end your career as a Garda. Your choice.", just as Walter was finishing his counter-proposal, Walter turned his laptop around again and quickly proved to Ian just how serious he was. Ian was stunned when Walter showed him his own birth certificate and birth announcement.

Both men were just staring at each other when Mr. McGinty drove up and parked the car. As he was getting out, he noticed what looked like to be a stand off between Walter and Ian. "Top of the morning you two. What is going on here?"

"Nothing, Mr. McGinty, I was just asking Mr. O'Brien here why he was sitting outside of your restaurant when the sign behind him clearly states that you do not open until 11:00."

"Oh well, I asked him to be here at 7:00 this morning but I got busy last night and forgot all about it. That is the price of getting old you know."

"Ok then, well I guess I better be going." After another determined stare towards Walter, Doogin turned around and left both men standing there.

"Good morning you two.", said Cabe to Toby and Happy who had just entered the breakfast bar area of the hotel.

"Good morning to you as well. Where is Sylvester?", asked Toby.

"He is still up in the room. He will be down here is a little while. He is starting to concern me. It is like he is more anxious than ever for some reason this morning."

"That is because he probably is. He is scared he can't fix things with Walter and with that he feels like he let Megan down also. He came over to our room last night and talked to me. Like the rest of us he just wants to clear the air between all of us and try to start all over before Scorpion implodes on itself."

"I can't say I don't feel the same way. I mean he really isn't that mad at me but looking back I feel like I could have stopped a lot of this from happening. I mean I was married to him after all even if it was just on paper."

"How do you mean, Happy", asked Cabe.

"Morning everyone.", said Sylvester.  
"Morning.", said Toby, Happy, and Cabe at the same time.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"We were just discussing what we could have done to prevent some of this chaos that we are going through with Walter. Happy was saying that she felt like she could have prevented some of this from happening while they were still married.", said Toby.

"Yea, I know I could have prevented some of this mess from happening myself. I shouldn't have kept my relationship with his parents a secret. It wasn't meant to be a secret, I just never thought to tell him. I didn't know he wanted to try to reconnect with them and that he needed help with it. I should have at least invited him over to Skype his parents and let it be his choice to do so, but I didn't and now it seems like I not only lost his respect as a friend but also as a brother. It also doesn't help that I let down my best friend and wife. I feel that if Megan could see what has happened she would be so disappointed with me for letting her brother down."

Patting Sylvester on the back, "Look, right now each one of us at this table feels like we let Walter down more than the other. So, lets quit wallowing in self pity and go and try to make amends with the one person we are here for. I think right now the best thing that we can do is to apologize to Walter and try to make amends and try to heal the best way we can as a team and as a family. What do you guys say?"

"Agreed", said the three geniuses.

"You know, Paige left the restaurant with Walt last night, how do you think that went?", asked Happy.

"I don 't know but I sure would have like to have been the fly on that wall last night.", said Toby.

After everyone finished their breakfast, the small group got up and left the hotel to go have a talk with one certain genius. Little do they know they were being watched from a distant.

Walter was digging into the computer and looking for anything that may be the cause of the problems with the orders being placed when the door open and Sean, Louise, and Ralph entered the restaurant.

"Hey guys."

Getting a chair and climbing up on it to get a better look, "Hey dad. Did you find the problem yet."

"No, not yet."

McGinty walked out to see who came in the door, "Top of the morning there Sean, Louise.", looking over to where Ralph who was next to Walter, you too there lad."

Looking at Walter curiously, "He is telling you good morning Ralph." whispered Walter.

"Oh, good morning", said Ralph.

Smiling and pouring Sean and Louise a cup of coffee, Seamus just stood back and watched the both of them together for a while. Looking at Sean and Louise, "Walter did say that he signed adoption papers on him right?"  
"Yes, why?", said Sean.

"No reason really.", said Seamus who was just standing there watching them both interact with each other. Something of which he never seen Walter do before today. He remembered Walter as a child and that teenager that left so long ago but the man standing before him was a totally different person.

"Mr. McGinty, how old is this computer system?", asked Walter.

"I'm not sure what you are asking, I don't know too much about them, just enough for the restaurant to function."

"When did you buy this computer do you remember?"

"About ten years ago maybe, why? Not liking where this conversation is going, why exactly is that important?"

About that time the front door open again and Paige walked in and noticed Walter and Ralph standing behind the bar around the computer.

"Sorry miss but we are not open for business yet.", said Seamus.

"Oh hi, I know. Um, Walter asked me to meet him up here this morning.", said Paige.

Looking at Walter, "Mr. McGinty, this is Paige Dineen, she is my partner and I asked her to meet me here to help with some things that I want to talk to you about it a moment. She is also Ralph's mother. So getting back to the question at hand, the reason I am asking is because the age of the computer may be the cause of the slowness and the problems with the orders getting back to the kitchen."

Standing there for a moment and finishing their coffee, they both watched how easily it was for Walter to truly interact with Paige. They both know that they are having personal problems but yet they are able to put aside those personal differences and work together as a team. Louise began to smile as she remembered what Megan had told her about Paige soon after she first met her.

" _Hi Mom."_

" _Oh hi love, how are you feeling today."_

" _I feel good, I got to meet Walter's friends the other day but then again I coerce him into it."_

" _Megan, you know you shouldn't have done that to your brother."_

" _I know mom but I hated staying cooped up in this hospital. Besides I am happy to tell you that your baby boy is in love. I mean hopelessly in love."_

" _Really, and what is her name then?"_

" _Her name is Paige, and she is beautiful. Walter acts so differently around her you wouldn't believe it. She actually walked up to him and touched him and he didn't even flinch not even a little. You should see him mom. He told me about her before I met her and his whole face lit up then but when I saw them together he just shined mom, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. I've never seen him like this ever. She is the one mom, I can feel it."_

"Louise, Louise,", Sean was trying to get her attention.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sean, what were saying."

"I was asking if you were ready to leave so this group can work. Where did you drift off to anyway."

"Yes, I am ready to go and I drifted off to a conversation I remembered having with Megan. She told me then that Paige was the one for Walter and I think maybe she is right."

Smiling at that thought both Sean and Louise told the everyone bye and left them to work.

"Bye", said everyone as Sean and Louise left.

"Ok, the reason that the age of this computer is important is because technology is always and forever changing. Even though this computer and its system is still in good shape it is not able to keep up with today's internet."

Mr. McGinty was looking at Walter a little weird and considering he is use to those looks he knew he had to clarify his explanation some more.

"Ok, here is an example, Lets say the highway that we have today with the speed limit at say 114 km (70miles per hour) per hour but your vehicle's top speed is only 49 (30 miles per hour) km per hour. One you are impeding traffic and you are more and likely going to be ran off of the road. That is basically what is happening with this computer. So literally, this computer and probably the whole system is way too slow to keep up with the current speed of the internet so you need to upgrade it."

"In other words, I need more horses under the hood."

"Exactly."

"How much is this going to cost me?"

"That all depends on how much you want to spend. You will need to not only upgrade the system out here but back in the kitchen as well and it probably wouldn't hurt to add a two or three more serving stations as well."

"Now, that is Shawna talking there."

"No, that is business talking here. Paige maybe you can explain better than I can as far as what is needed from a waitress' point of view."  
"I get that you don't want to spend anymore than necessary but as a former waitress when you have to live off of tips, it is hard."

"I pay my wait staff well."

"I'm sure you do but when you have to depend on those tables turning it is hard to do when you they have to wait on their order to come out and when they have to wait longer than they feel they should then the customer begins to blame their server for it and it is reflected in the tips. It also reflects on the kitchen staff in the back because the customer thinks the kitchen staff is doing their jobs back there. The faster the order get back to kitchen the faster the customers get their food the faster the table are turned which makes better tips for your servers and increase customer volume. Everyone is happy. With that all said how is your customer flow now, has it dropped any since the computer has been acting up or has it remained the same. Your daily numbers are the answer to whether or not revamping the restaurant a little will help. A little money spent now will be regained back and then some if the service improves and I am referring to that amount of time it takes to get food to the tables."

"Alright, what do you suggest?"

"I suggest for starters that we go and look at computer equipment. I feel that the best would be a gaming computer. Before you say anything, even though there won't be any games played on it, it is better quipped to handle speed and that is what you need here is speed. I can also put my security program on his for you as well which will make it virtually unhackable."

"How much is this going to cost me?"

"That depends on the price of the computers that we go look at. Then we go from there."

"Ok, when do you want to go?"

"We can go anytime you are ready."

"Ok, We will leave when Aileen comes in here in a few minutes but DON"T TELL SHAWNA."

Smiling. "Agreed. Um, do you mind if Ralph comes with us."

"No. Don't mind at all."

While waiting on Mrs. McGinty to come in to work, Paige and Walter sat at the booth talking some more and trying to mend a fence or two. Mr. McGinty, on the other hand decided to challenged Ralph to a game of chess.

"Well, while we're waiting on the Mrs. lets see what you have."

"Just so you know I have beaten a Grand Master before."

"Ok, but you are not scaring me that easily."

After four matches, Mrs. McGinty came in an notice Seamus playing with Walter's son. She stood there and watched her husband get beat with in minutes of starting the game. "Walter Patrick O'Brien! Are you sure this child isn't your naturally."

Giggling, "Considering, I just witness you being beat, that child can have anything he wants here for free. Maybe later on you can come back for some ice cream. "

Smiling, "I'm sure I can come back."

"Mrs. McGinty, please do not give him an abundance of sweets. We definitely don't need a repeat of Halloween.", said Walter who was looking at Ralph.

"Not to mention, you don't need to be giving anything away. By the way we need to leave for a while so call if you need anything. "

"Ok. Seamus, I'll call if I do need anything, where are you going by the way?"

"No place special it just business. I talk to you about it later."

"Ok Seamus.", Aileen who also noticed Paige standing next to Walter. "Hello, I don't think we've met, I am Aileen McGinty."

"Mrs, McGinty, this is Paige Dineen, my partner and Ralph's mother.", said Walter.

"Its nice to meet you."

"It nice to meet you too. Look Walter I need to get going I should go meet the rest of team and let them know that you have a job here. Are you sure you want Ralph with you, I mean it is up to you?"

"I'm sure. I told Ralph he could come with me after all. Umm, can I talk to you over here please."  
"Sure."

Taking Paige by the hand and walking far enough to be out of earshot of everyone else, sighing and taking deep breath, "One, I want to be there when you talk with Drew and Veronica. I have questions to ask them both. Second, when you see the team, tell them I want to talk to him tonight and umm...if you want, I would like for you and Ralph to stay at the house with me tonight. Look, I just want to continue on working on us every chance we get because...because I just don't want to loose you altogether."

Trying not cry, "Alright Walter, I can do that but I was going to send Mom and Drew back on Richard's plane today but I can call him and ask if he wouldn't mind to giving us another day. I will also give the team your message and I am sure there wouldn't be a problem with us staying with you tonight."

"Ok, I'll see you later on then. Oh, Paige, there is also something going on as well and I don't know what it is so could you have the team do some deep digging and profiling on Garda Ian Doogin. He is up to something but I don't know what but I do know he has been in the house when I wasn't there so do me a favor, until I know who he is, don't go back to the house unless I am with you. Go hang out at mom and dad's or wherever but not there for now. Please."

"Sure, keep Ralph safe then please as well as yourself."

"Ok."

As the group got ready to leave, Mrs. McGinty couldn't help but watch Walter and Paige. Even though she didn't know what they were saying, she could tell there was something different with Walter. He never was one to have physical contact with anyone but yet, the contact that was made between them was so natural that if she didn't see it for herself she would have never believed Walter was that same teenager that left here so long ago. He has changed so much for the better that she couldn't keep from smiling to herself.

Before the actual departure, Paige asked Walter for permission about telling the team about his house. After he gave permission they both just stared at each other for a moment as if they were having a silent conversation and then both went their separate ways. Paige met up with the team over at Sean and Louise's house and asked the team to talk to them in private to give them the instructions about doing a work up on Ian Doogin and the fact that he broke into Walter's house. She also gave the team Walter's message about wanting to talk to them later this afternoon when Walter got back from helping Mr. McGinty with his computer shopping.

About fours hours later, Seamus McGinty dropped Walter and Ralph off at his parent's house along with their purchases that Walter and Ralph made at the mall. Both geniuses walked into the house and suddenly an awkward silence fell on the house because Walter just didn't know what was going to happen.

"Hey guys, umm...umm... where is mom and dad at?

"I think they your dad just walked out to the barn and your mother left to go help someone named Darby. She should be back her in a little while.", said Sylvester.

"Ok, umm...I'll be back in a moment. I need to ask dad something.", Walter then exited the house to the barn. "Hey, dad, do you and mom have any plans for tonight?"

"No, not that I am aware of, why?"

"I was wondering if you mind watching Ralph for a little while longer. He will be coming to stay with me tonight but I need to talk with the team privately. Look, I really don't mean leaving him with you like I have since he gotten here but I also don't want him around the discord that the team is going through right now and I don't want him to hear any negativity that we may say to each other right now. Its one thing that he hears it in the garage but the level that we have reached now its not something I want him to hear."

"Son, I get what you are saying and your mother and I do not have a problem watching him while the lot of you sort out your problems. Besides this is you trying to protect him from getting hurt by watching the people he loves say things that you don't mean to each other and can't take back. You can leave him here as long as you need. Ok."

"Ok, thanks dad.", said Walter, who exited the barn and went back into the house.

Entering the house, "Umm, Paige can I have a word with you for a moment."

"Sure."

Walking into the dining room, "Look, I want to talk to them but I am not sure if I want to do it here, so I was wondering if maybe we leave Ralph here and go back to the house and talk as a whole team there. That way we would have privacy and Ralph won't have to hear us just in case we have another repeat of last night as far as the temperament is concern."

"I agree. I think that would be best. What about Mom and Drew. They have hotel rooms in town and they are currently hanging out there."

"We can talk to them first thing in the morning so you can send them on their way back to the States."

"Ok."

Walking back into the room with the rest of the team, "Look, I umm...I umm..." taking a deep breath trying to calm himself, "...I umm I want to talk to all of you but not here. As you know Paige told you about my house that I have bought here and I would like to go there and talk. The reason is so we can have privacy and leaves the stress out of mom and dad's house. Dad is going you watch you Ralph for a little while ok bud.

Ralph looking rather deflated, "Ok."

"Hey, bud, it is just until we have a private discussion then afterwards either I or your mother or both of us will come and pick you up or I'll ask Dad to drop you off. Besides there other reasons I want to keep this meeting private. Is everyone ok with the change of venue?"

"Yes.", said everyone. With that everyone with the exception of Ralph left the farm house and proceeded to Walter's house.

Upon arriving at the house, Walter stopped everyone from entering right away, "Look before we enter I need to tell you guys something. I don't know if Paige told you or not but Ian Doogin, the person I had you guys do a work up on has been in here once before already, so when I get in there, I am going to do a security check first but I do not know if there are any bugs in there or not."

Entering the house, Walter proceeded to look at security footage and saw that no one had entered his home in the last few hours. Since he didn't know if any listening devices were planted he then decided to get down to the reason he brought everyone here.

Turning around to look at his team, "Look, honestly, I don't know where to start here. I thought all of you were my friends, my family but for the last several months it seemed like all of you were against me and stop believing in me. It seemed like out of the blue that no matter what I did or how hard I tried, it just wasn't good enough and that I just didn't matter to any of you. I was mad when I wrote those letters but that was also how I felt. You Sylvester, it wasn't the fact that you took the time or the effort to get to know my family, its just that you never trusted me enough to include me in that part of your life. Yes, I did get a lot of flack for you and Megan getting married but that was nothing unusual at that time, but I still didn't deserve to be left out either.

Happy, you and I should have said something to the team about our marriage if for nothing else we should have sat down and told Toby and Paige especially when the dynamics of our relationships with these two started to change. At some point, maybe we should have never had gotten married in the first place and tried to find another solution to the problem at the time because for us there is always another solution. Just so everyone knows at this time, I will take complete responsibility for that because looking back now that was me being selfish because I didn't want to come back here to Ireland and I wanted to stay there to be with my sister because I didn't want her over there by herself without family, without me. I didn't want to be away from my sister.

Toby, I am not even sure about you at this point, I bailed you out the day I met you and I kept bailing you out but I never abandon you either. After I met Paige, you did nothing but try to push us together and make me admit my feelings for Paige. When I finally did, you pulled a 360 degree turn on me and told me that she was better off with someone else and I would be too. You told me I shouldn't tell her how I felt about her because she was with someone else like I should stop trying and just ignore my feeling for her altogether because I was inadequate to the person she was with and you encouraged her to move on and get as far as she could away from me as she could get and I don't know for the life of me as to why. I thought it was because you were mad at the fact that I was married to Happy and never told you. So, please say your revenge is over with because I don't know what else I could do to make it up to you over that.

Cabe, When you heard me admitted my feelings for Paige, you seemed like you were totally against it but it was ok for Tim to be with her, it seemed like I just wasn't good enough to be with her. I know you said I wasn't ready but how was it I wasn't ready to have a relationship with Paige after two and half yet you thought it was great for Tim to be with Paige after two weeks, why? Never mind the fact that I pushed Paige away, just tell me how come he was so much better than me. Was it because he was normal. I know I use that word a lot but I don't know what else to use. I know my EQ isn't the same but why wasn't I good enough. Everyone in this room made me feel like I was useless, unworthy, and alone ever since Tim walked in the door maybe before that and I didn't realize it but that was what I started feeling more and more each day until Christmas Eve when everyone one of you left and made me feel like I, alone, messed everyone's holiday up. When Paige gave me a look of hatred and disappointment on her way out of the door, when Sylvester and Cabe barely said bye when they left, Toby when you and Happy left you came up and handed me a cup of eggnog and told me that Paige was blaming me for everything including Tim's leaving. I left because I didn't think anyone would miss me, in fact, I actually thought all of you would be glad that I left then Tim could come back and take over like the way you guys seemed to have wanted. I actually feel like Scorpion is done for and actually failed for the first time since we became a team three years ago.

Listening to Walter, everyone just looked at him and wondered how they went so wrong with their friend. Each one wanted to fix what was wrong but they just weren't sure where to start. Each person in that room needed Scorpion to survive because it was a place of safety for them and a family but more importantly a home for them to go to when they felt lost and abandoned.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **Author's Note**

 **This is a temporary chapter. I am currently trying to write Chapter 14 but due to unforeseen circumstances, posting the actual chapter may take longer than usual. My fiance's father had emergency triple bypass surgery performed on not only Valentine's Day but also on his 70** **th** **birthday. Even though there was a little scare while during surgery, the doctor did doctor did an amazing job by keeping him alive. He is currently doing well but I have been going back and forth to the hospital and trying to be there for my fiance' and his family. There is still a long road ahead but all is looking good on his recovery. I am actually hand writing this story while sitting at the hospital. I am just not sure when I will be able to type it up. So, please just be patient and I will get chapters posted for this story as soon as I can.**


	15. Chapter 15

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

 **Author's Note: First I would like to say Thank you for all of the well wishes we received for my boyfriend's father. His father is currently in a rehab center and he is on the right path to recovery. We hope to have him home soon. Secondly, I would like to thank everyone out there for their patience for me taking so long on posting this chapter. Third: Keep in mind, I do not know if what Ralph did in this chapter is possible so please keep an open mind and think that with the technology today anything is possible.**

Chapter 15: Rebuilding Bridges—Ralph

Walter had every member of his team looking at him by now and neither one of them knew what to say to him. They didn't know what to say or how to begin to fix things from here because they didn't realized just how bad they had hurt him. It seemed like all they heard was that Walter had given up because he thought they had given up on him. Now they had to prove to him that he was wrong.

"Look son, it may be best to clear the air with you on an individual basis first. I think it is safe to say that some things that needs to be said may be personal and then afterwards maybe we can talk as a group." said Cabe.

"I'm fine with that."

"So who wants to go next since we already know who went first considering Paige left with you last night.", said Toby.

"It doesn't matter to me. We can draw straws if need be.", said Sylvester.

"How about if I decide who goes first.", said Walter.

"Ok, who do you want first then?", said Happy.

"Well, I think you four can wait a day longer. The first person I want to talk to is Ralph. He is the one who found me without my parents telling him where I was and I for one would really like to know how. I can speculate all I want too and I am sure one of my hypotheses is correct but I want to hear it from Ralph. Like Cabe said it will be done in a private setting. Then next in line will be Veronica and Drew. Paige is wanting to send them back to the U.S. as soon as possible, so we planned on talking to them first thing in the morning. As far as the four of you are concern I am not sure who I want to talk to first."

"We can choose alphabetically, or IQ status, or age status, or..."

"Can it Doc. Walter when you come to that bridge just pick one. If we left it up to Doc over here we will be here all night.", said Happy.

"I can do that. We can put those discussions aside for now, I want to talk to you about Officer Ian Doogin. I don't know if Paige told you everything but there is a reason why I wanted you to do a full work-up on him. When I arrived on Christmas Day, I was here for approximately two hours when he knocked on my door. He stated that the reason he stopped by the house was because this was the first time he had seen a car here since he had been patrolling this area for the last couple of months and he was just checking to make sure everything was alright and making sure I belonged here. So, I showed him the bill of sale for the house and also gave him Ms. Callaghan business card. He in turned called her to come out and verify that I was me. After all was said and done, I brushed him off as to someone who was doing his job and nothing more considering I didn't let anyone know that I was coming here in the first place. The next day I found him on my front porch as I pulled into the driveway. I asked him if I could help him and he began telling me about some burglaries in the area and asked me if I would keep an eye out for anyone suspicious which would be a little difficult considering I don't know who actually belongs in this area and who doesn't. After that, I began getting suspicious of him but I thought it was just me until I checked the security camera footage and saw that he let himself into my house. So, this morning while I was waiting on Mr. McGinty to show for our meeting this morning, he approached me wondering why I was sitting in front of the restaurant so early before opening and that was when I confronted him about being in this house without permission by showing him the camera footage. He then told me that he didn't know whether or not he could trust me because he can't seem to find any information on me so he decided to give me an ultimatum that if I tell him who I am and why I am actually here he will be truthful with me as to why he broke into my house. I then gave him one in return which, my ultimatum seem to be more disconcerting. I told him that he had 24 hours to either tell me the truth as to why he broke in here or I will take this footage to his superiors thus ending his career as a Garda. I also told him that I could get a background check on him within five minutes and erase him virtually just as quick. It didn't help that I gave him proof that I was capable of everything I told him, I showed him his birth certificate and birth announcement. That was the reason I had you guys to do a full work-up on him."

"So how much time does he have to come forward?", asked Happy.  
"Technically, he has until 7:15am tomorrow morning."

"Well, we did a preliminary work-up on him, I profiled him through his social media accounts.", said Toby,

"I looked at his financial records.", said Sylvester.

"I looked through his emails.", said Happy.

"Don't look at me I just sat there and watched and chilled out myself and talked with your Uncle Tobin.", said Cabe.

"I just spent some time with Ralph.", said Paige.

"After we talked with Ralph later on this evening, I will hacked into his phone records and look at all of his texts and see who he has been calling. Look guys this is not a case per se but I am wanting this as a precaution so I know who I am up against if anything. I don't know who he is but I am not going to risk my family's safety when I could have prevented it all."

Smirking, "Maybe he just likes you.", said Toby.

With that remark, Walter just looked at him, "Don't make me regret anything here. We still haven't had **our** talk, remember.", said Walter.

"No, I haven't forgotten and I was just kidding.", said Toby.

"Not to mention, Paige will have your back. You guys weren't partnered up with her when she had that jealous streak when all of you were stuck in Elia's building and found out Walter was drugged by a beautiful woman.", said Cabe.

Getting a glare from Page, "Ok, with all of this being said, how to do you want to play this. Where do you want to start with everything. The reason why I am asking is because so far, you are revamping Mr. McGinty's computer system in his restaurant, who have seven planned meetings, and now you have suspicious cop who may or may not be dirty."

"That about sums it up.", said Walter.

"Where is Doogin suppose to meet you?", asked Happy.

"We never set up a place to meet because Mr. McGinty pulled up and that ended the whole conversation there.", said Walter.

"Here is an idea, since you know who you want to talk to first for your individual meetings, why don't we go ahead and leave so you can have your first meeting with Ralph. We can come back in the morning and be here when Doogin's deadline is up. Also, if you want, we can help with revamping that restaurant.", suggested Sylvester.

"No, Sly. He is not aware of any of you guys yet and I would like to keep it that way. Let me meet up with him on my own that way whatever information he may have he will want to share and not get scared when he unexpectedly sees five other people here. Also, no offense, I was hoping the restaurant could be a project between Paige, Ralph, and myself but if there are no objections from Paige or Ralph then I am ok with it. Besides, if Mr. McGinty goes through with the plan that we laid out for him then he would probably do it when Shawna leaves for the next few days and he would want it up an running before she gets back. I think he is wanting to surprise her. He even said something about shutting down the restaurant for a day or two so we could work unhindered by customers and staff."

"You know guys, why don't we leave these two here to talk about how they want to work that project and I am sure they want to get Ralph over here so they can have their talk with him. Walter can also call us with details in the morning about how to handle Ian Doogin.", suggested Cabe.

Everyone agreed and left for the evening not before leaving the information they found on Doogin with Walter just in case he gets a call from him to set up a meeting then he will have the info on hand.

Paige and Walter went back over to his parent's house to pick up Ralph. After thanking his dad again for watching him, all three returned back to the house so they could have the first meeting on Walter's list. After returning back to the house, Paige went into the kitchen to begin making dinner and Walter and Ralph carried their purchases upstairs to what was going to be Ralph's room.

While looking at computers and comparing prices and explaining everything to Mr. McGinty, Walter and Ralph went shopping for an air mattress for Ralph to sleep on as well as bedding such as sheets and blankets along with a few other room accessories. After dinner Paige and Walter sat Ralph down for the much needed and dreaded discussion.

"First and foremost Ralph, how did you find me?", asked Walter.

"I wrote a program using the same means as pinging a cell phone. Instead of pinging cell phone signals, I used it to ping texts since they work along the same lines as a cell phone. Since all I had to work with was a burner phone, I used Grandma's cell phone which was the perfect test subject since she always has her cell phone on. Although, Grandma doesn't know I used her as a test subject.

"Where did you get the burner phone.", asked Paige.

Looking at Walter, "I gave it to him. I didn't know if you were planning on leaving with Tim and taking Ralph with you and I wanted to keep some sort of connection with him. I was afraid I would never see him again.", said Walter.

"Ok, I'll just let that slide and forget I heard that.", said Paige.

"What did you guys do with Bueller, who is taking care of him?"

"Oh, I asked Daniel if he could watch him until we got back and he seemed trilled to do so."

"You know in the letter I said I was coming back, so why did you look for me? I Scooped remember?"

Looking down towards the floor Ralph sighed, "Mom may not like what I have to say."

"No matter whether or not she likes what she hears, there still is a reason that you left the way you did. Just be truthful about it and I assure you that she will get over it."

"Dad, I...I came here because it seemed like ever since Mom started dating Tim she seemed to stop accepting me for who I am like she did you. I felt like she didn't want me to be the genius that I am and she wanted a normal kid instead. Whenever Tim was over, which seemed like he moved in with the exception he didn't sleep there, that she was more interested into doing things that interested him more and forgot about me when he was there. So, basically I just felt left out and unwanted and forgotten about when he was there. So, after I read your note and found the phone you left for me, I decided to look for you and come to you since I felt like Mom just stopped, out of the blue, when it came to accepting me and believing in me."

Tears running down her eyes, "Ralph, I have **never** stopped believing in you or accepting you for who you are and I will never do that. You are my son and I will **always** love you no matter what."

"Then why did your attitude change after you started dating Tim. After Tahoe, you always seemed short tempered with Walter and some times with rest of the team. For example at Thanksgiving, when Happy and I made that knife, you clearly stated that you wanted a **normal** Thanksgiving so therefore you didn't want any **geniusy** stuff. Your words not mine. You would have never said that if you weren't dating Tim but yea, I think your whole attitude towards us geniuses changed for the worst when Tim came onto the team. Honestly, I never really liked him. I just accepted him because you said you liked him a lot and he made you happy which I don't think he ever made you truly happy, Mom. I know because I saw the difference in you from when dad left to when we met Walter to when you decide to start dating Tim. You changed from being ok, to really happy to just being there."

"Is that why you really left the way you did and not just because you wanted to find Walter and try to bring him home on your own?

"For the most part I did it for both reasons but I also wanted you two to start talking again and being the way you use to be. Mom, that was when you were truly happy, but you seem like you don't want happy anymore you just want normal. I rather you be truly happy because that was when you were connecting with me the most unlike now."

Not even bothering to hide the tears anymore, "Ralph, baby, I...I..I never realized what I was doing. Why didn't you say something?"

"Because, Tim always seemed to be around and I never really had an opportunity to tell you and then as time went by and your attitude towards everyone changed especially towards dad, I just figured you wouldn't listen anyway and would shrugged it off like it didn't really matter."

"Ralph, your mother and I had a... well, we had a discussion even though parts of it was rather heated, but we did come to some agreements. We are planning on seeing a counselor outside of the garage. Your mother suggested a marriage counselor even though we are not married, but would you consider coming to counseling with us and maybe sort some of this out. We (pointing towards himself and Paige) already know that our problems are going to take a while to sort through and nothing is going to be solved over night. So, I suggest that we maybe go to family counseling because there may be other problems that may be underlying that we don't think is relevant but may actually be the main source of the problem."

"I am willing to give it a try."

"Ok. Ralph, just so you know, I will never stop accepting you for you. I never realized that I was doing that and I am so very sorry. Don't ever think for one minute that I don't love you and accept you for you and if I ever do that again please call me on it. Ok. Can you forgive me? Both of you?

"Yes.", said both geniuses.

"Ok. Now I have one question that was asked of me this evening and I will be ok either way, so I am going to leave the decision up to the two of you. You know I offered to help Mr. McGinty's to upgrade his restaurant and if he goes through with it, he is wanting it completed before Shawna gets back. So, my question is, do the two of you want it just to be our, the three of us, project or do you mind if the rest of the team helps out? That question was raised this evening."

"I was hoping it would be just the three of us but it would also be more efficient if the whole team helps since it sound like we are pressed for time. What do you think Mom?"

"I agree with you. Besides, we can always come up with other projects that could just be the three of us."

For the rest of the evening the three of them talked about a lot of other problems that had been festering for a while and tried to find solutions to solve them until it was time for Ralph to go to bed.

Walking through the open door of the bedroom, Walter noticed Paige curled up on the bed. From his position from the doorway, she looked like she had been crying. Not to startle her he knocked lightly on the door frame.

"You ok."

Not wanting to trust her voice she just shook her head.

"Paige, I don't know what to say about the reasons that Ralph gave on why he did what he did. I am out of my element here. But just so you know, you are still a great mom to him. Not to put my mother down but you are a far better mother to Ralph than my mother was to me considering you both have raised or in the process of raising a child genius ."

In a choked sob, "Thanks, I promise not to tell her that if the subject ever comes up. How did I go so wrong with him, Walter? I never knew I was doing any of that, did you?"

"Yes, I did a little bit but if I had said anything to you about it it would have ended into a fight because you weren't talking to me anymore. What you did to me was what you were doing to him. I know you wouldn't have abandoned him mentally on purpose like you did me but that was what you were doing to me and it just happened to filter over to Ralph."

"I'm sorry. I never meant to do any of that. I feel like I have somehow destroyed our friendship, my relationship with my son, and your entire company over my pride. I'll understand if you never want anything to do with me from here on out but please don't walk away from Ralph. You mean everything to him. He practically screamed that at me when we read our notes. He said then that you have been more of a dad to him in the last three years than his own father has ever been in his entire life and Tim would never fill that spot in his life. He even said it in front of Drew and Tim along with everyone else in the room."

Smiling, "I have no intentions of walking away from Ralph...or you for that matter. I just want us to go back to what we had last year before Tim. Actually, I want us better than before.

"I agree, I want us better than before too. I am also certain that we will get there, slowly, but we will get there."

From there on they slowly began talking about the future that they wanted to have not just with each other but where they would like to take Scorpion as a company.

Ian had been looking over every piece of evidence that he could find on these suspected scam artist. Just a year ago his own parents fell pray to these same people who used a scam where the unsuspected home owners are threatened foreclosure if they didn't pay some unknown back taxes. As hard as Ian had tried to find any information on this scam duo, all he managed to find is a file folder so thin you could practically see through it. Looking at the file he could probably count the number of pieces of paper on one hand and maybe half of the other. Thinking about this morning he couldn't help but be more suspicious of Walter O'Brien.

Ian thought he had excellent computer skills until he ran into Walter over at McGinty's this morning. He even thought about moving to Dublin to work on their Cyber Crimes Unit but today he definitely received a wake up call from Walter. Walter showed him just how much he lacked in his computer skills when Walter produced his birth certificate and birth announcement within seconds of the conversation or debate that had started between them. Now the real question is can he trust him? Is he friend or foe. He recalled something from a newspaper clipping about Walter hacking into NASA when he was thirteen but is this the same person. Ian then recalled another newspaper article about an American business man coming over here and building a base of operations for his company but he can't recall the man's name. Thinking to himself. "That man's name was it Elliott, Ellis, I don't know it was something to that effect but I can't worry about that now. Walter gave me a deadline to come clean or he will go to my superior and end my career permanently, then he would never catch the two people who took away the home that he grew up in essentially destroying his father who died six months later. His mother is living with her sister but he can tell every time he sees her how much she misses his father and for him to catch these people would be the best revenge he could have for his father." With that thought, Ian decided on the lesser of two evils. He decided to come clean with Walter. He just has one problem. He has no way of getting in touch with Walter with the exception of showing up at his house. Ian thought more on where to find Walter when it dawned onto him that he seem to know Mr. McGinty more on a friendly basis so he decided to go over there and see if he knew how to get in touch with Walter. Getting up from his desk, he started to gather his things so he could leave.

"Doogin, the Captain wants to see you in his office.", said Officer O'Leary.

"Did he say what he wanted?"

"No. He just asked me if you were still here and if so he wanted to see you."

"Ok.", Knowing that a door was open to make his way out of seeing the Captain, he knew he was going to have to face him sooner or later and if he found out that the message was relayed to him then whatever he wanted to see him over may be made worst if he left anyway. So Doogin put his things down and made his way to his Captain's office.

Entering the Captain's office. "Sir you wanted to see me."

"Yes, Doogin, I did. Come in and have a seat."

Walking in he began to worry that Walter went back on his word, "Yes, sir."

"I have been looking over your case load and it seems like some of them have become cold. For starters, the home burglaries, where are you with those cases?"

I have hit a dead end but I also think it is apart of something bigger. What it is, I can't seem to put my finger on it. I am still looking over the evidence and the list of things that has been taken and trying to come up with a profile on who I may be looking for as a prime suspect or suspects. Either way I have not given up on any of those cases."

"Ok. Let me ask you this, how much time and effort have you put on this so-called land scam of yours?"

"I have put equal time in all of my cases, sir. Also, this "so-called land scam" is real and I will prove it."

"I am going to say this once and once only, DROP THIS SO-CALLED LAND SCAM CASE. It isn't real. Your parents had a nasty incident occur to them and I'm sorry it happened to them but don't waste your time on this, it isn't worth it."

"With all do respect sir, I am not wasting my time and any work I do on this case is on my own time. So, if I waste any time on this case then it is my time to waste."

"If I see this particular case start to interfere with your actual work then consider this as a warning. You will go on report and you will be suspended without pay. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Your dismissed."

Getting up and leaving the Captain's office he went to his desk and gathered his things to leave for the day considering his shift ended almost an hour ago. As he walked to his car he decided to go over to see if Mr. McGinty was working tonight.

Entering the restaurant, "Hey Ruby, is Mr. McGinty working tonight?"

"Um, I think he worked this morning but I will go back and check for you."

"Ok, thanks."

Walking away from the bar, Ruby walked towards the office, "Mr. McGinty, Ian Doogin is out here to see you."

Looking at her curiously, "Did he say what he wanted?"

"No."

"Ok, tell him I'll be out there in a minute."

"Ok."

Walking back out to the bar." Mr. McGinty said he will be out here in a minute."

Ok, thanks Ruby. Hey maybe you can answer me a question?"

"What is that, Mr. Doogin?"

"What can you tell me about Walter O'Brien?"

"Nothing really. The first time I met him was at Lake Clementine. He was skipping rocks. That was the day after Christmas. Then I ran into him here a couple of times. Why?"

"No reason really."

"Shawna could answer your questions better than I could if that helps."

"Ok. Is she working tonight?"

"No, she won't be back for a few days."

"Ok."

"Mr. Doogin, what can I do you for?"

"Not much really, I was just wondering how to get in touch with Walter O'Brien?"

"I'd just call his dad. Why are looking for him?"

"I just need to talk to him and I realized that I didn't get his number from him this morning."

"Well, sorry I can't help you. Like I said, if I need to get in touch with him, I'll just call his dad."

"Ok thanks."

Upon receiving the information, Ian left McGinty's and decided to go home. He needed to get a few things together.

Ian had gotten up extra early this morning so he could go by Walter's house before going to work. He really didn't want everyone in this town wondering why he wanted to talk to Walter, it was bad enough that he went over to McGinty's looking for him.

Waking up, Walter found himself for the second time is as many days wrapped around Paige. Laying there it suddenly hit him on what had happen between them the night before. He was sitting on the bed next to Paige trying to console her over what Ralph had said about the real reason behind him coming here to Ireland looking for him. Paige then put her arms around his neck and she began crying onto his shoulder. After that he has no idea who initiated the kiss but it seemed to have taken a life of its own. He had dreamed of waking up to her like this but with the state of flux their relationship is in he felt like what happened between them probably wasn't the best idea. On the other hand, he regretted nothing that happened between them.

Succeeding in not waking Paige up, he got up and picked out some clothes while at the same time picking up his clothes that seemed to have been thrown around the room. He quietly gathered his things while trying not to wake Paige up, then went to the other bathroom and showered and got ready for the day then went directly downstairs.

About an hour later, Paige woke up and for the first time in what seemed like forever, felt well rested. She slept so good, she felt rejuvenated for the first time in years. She thought about last night and blush to herself for dreaming about Walter like she did but she had to admit that was the best dream she has had in a long long time not to mention how real it felt to her. She started to get up out of bed and suddenly felt a little stiff and the noticed her clothes had been thrown about the room. Suddenly she realized it wasn't a dream. What happen last night actually happened. Suddenly embarrassed, she thought to herself. "As much as I don't regret it, this shouldn't have happened.". She got up and searched for something to wear as well as picking her clothes up as she went to shower and after finishing getting ready for the day and heading downstairs, all she could think about was how she was going to face Walter.

Walking into the kitchen, she noticed Walter by the coffee pot. Looking up, Walter noticed Paige walking into the kitchen.

"Look.", they both said at the same time.

"You first but I think it is safe to say that we maybe thinking the same thing.", said Walter.

"Maybe, I umm...ummm. Look, I don't think last night should have happened but honestly, I don't regret it either."

Thinking about what Paige just said, "I ummm...umm...I was thinking the same thing that we should have waited until we were actually ready for what took place last night, but like you, I have no regents either."

They stood at the counter looking at each other when Walter asked, "When do you want to talk to your Mother and Drew and do you want to talk to them with or without Ralph present?"

"I don't know whatever time you think is best. Preferably, I would like to talk to them without Ralph present."  
"Do you know what hotel they are staying at?"

"Yes. Looking towards the stairs, "Do you think your parents mind watching Ralph while we talk to them or do you want to let the team watch after him?"

Let Mom and Dad watch him, I think they enjoy having Ralph around and besides, its not like they get to see him everyday anyway."

While discussing how to plan out the day there was a knock on the door. Looking curiously at each other, Walter walked over to answer the door thinking it might be one of the Scorpion team members. Upon opening the door, he was somewhat surprised to see Officer Doogin in front of him.

"Doogin, I take it you made your decision."

"I have,"

"Come in."

Walking through the door, Doogin noticed Paige, then turned to look at Walter. As Walter began to ensure him that it was alright to talk in front of her, Ralph came bounding down the stairs which surprised Doogin even more.

"Whats for breakfast?", asked Ralph.

"Not sure, why don't you go ask your mother, she is in the kitchen."

"Ok."

Looking at Walter curiously, "I'm sorry for showing up like this and I didn't know your family had shown up but I didn't know how else to get in touch with you.", said Doogin in a low voice.

"That's ok. Paige knows about our deadline but Ralph is still in the dark with all of this."

"Ok, umm...when and where is a good time to meet. I will be up front with you on this, one thing you need to know is that my Captain is dead set against me working on the information I am wanting to share with you. He thinks the problem does not exist and is a waste of time."

"Ok. We can meet back here this evening. I'm doing some work for Mr. McGinty and I have a meeting this morning with a couple of people. Just so you know my team is here as well and I am going to have them sit in on our meeting also. If your not ok with them being here then so be it they are going to be here anyway."

"Ok. Can I ask how many more people to expect?"

There will be a total of six adults and probably Ralph."

"Ralph?"

"Ralph is our twelve year old son but he is still considered part of the team."

Looking skeptical, "Ok."

"What time do you want to meet?"

"As of right now how about we meet here at 4:00 this evening."

"Ok, if I can't make it could I have a contact number so I can get in touch with you.?"

"Sure.", Walter went over to his computer bag and got out a pen and paper. Both men exchanged numbers and Doogin left to go report for duty.

Walking back into the kitchen, Paige looked up at Walter and handing him a cup of coffee and a plate with some eggs and sausage and some toast. "Was that the person you were telling us about last night?"

"Yes. He is coming over here this evening so he can reveal the reasoning behind his actions."

"What did he do?" asked Ralph.

"As of right now, he let himself into this house without permission and without me being here. So, when I saw him on the security cameras I brought it to his attention and gave him a choice to either tell me why he did what he did or I go to his supervisor and we can discuss it there."

"Oh, Ok. So, where am I going to be?"

"I don't know yet. I want to discuss it with your Mom. Truth be told he is one of the reasons I've had you stay at the farm. I felt like it was safer for the both of you. So, Paige what do you want to do with Ralph?"

"Well, I want him safe and personally since he has already seen Ralph, I would feel more comfortable if he was close by even if he is just upstairs. I just want to know he is safe."

"I agree. Well Ralph, I guess you are going to be underfoot this evening. For your safety of course."

"Of course.", said Ralph who was looking at both Walter and Paige and smiled walking out of the kitchen to get ready for his day.

Shaking his head, so what about your Mother and Drew?

"We can either talk to them there at the hotel or here at the house. Either way, I just want to get them on their way so they are two less people to worry about per se.

"Ok. We can discuss where to have that particular meeting later. I'll call Mom and Dad to see if they can watch Ralph this morning."

"Ok."

Picking up his phone, Walter called his parents to make arrangements for Ralph while Paige called Drew to make arrangements to meet so they could talk.

"Seamus, where did you go yesterday with Walter?", asked Aileen.

"Promise me you will say nothing to Shawna."

"Ok, I will keep this secret from her."

"I am going ahead and getting a new computer for the wait staff to place orders as well as setup three more stations. I'm just not sure how long it will take him to set everything up."

"How are you going to keep her in the dark?"

"Well, I have thought about closing the restaurant for a day or so while Walter and company can work unhindered.

"You know doing that will overshadow anything and everything that you got her for Christmas this year."

"It maybe her Christmas next year too."

Laughing, "Seamus Liam McGinty, I know you better than you think and she has always had you wrapped around her finger and you know it."

"Yea, yea." Picking up his phone and dialing a phone number, "Sean can you get me Walter's number or have him to call me. I need to talk to him about the work he is doing for me."

"I don't think he would mind if I gave you his number but just to be on the safe side of things, I'll just have him to call you."

"That will be ok. Thank you."

"Not a problem, your welcome Seamus."

Walter, Paige, and Ralph arrived at the farm as Sean was hanging up the phone.

"Morning, Mom and Dad."

"Oh, top of the morning. How is everyone this morning?", asked Louise.

"We are good and you.", said Paige.

"We are good as well."

"Walter, Seamus McGinty wanted you to call him. Here is his number."

"Ok, Dad. Thanks. Paige and I are going to meet up with Drew and Veronica to have a talk with them, Are you sure you are ok with Ralph being here? I mean we can get the team to watch him if you have something else to do and can't watch him."

"No, we don't mind.", said Louise.

"Ok, thanks."

Walking away from Walter and his parents, "Ralph, we will be back in a couple of hours. We are going to talk to your Father and Grandmother about their part in all of this, ok", said Paige.

"Ok, but remember none of this is their fault."

"I know, baby. I get it. But there are a few questions that I need to ask and Walter has questions of his own to ask also."

"Ok, but before you send them back to LA can I say bye to them first."

"Of, course, sweetie. They may get supervised visits but I am not going to keep you from saying bye to them, ok."

"Ok. Thanks Mom."

"Your welcome." Giving her son a kiss on the forehead, they both walked over to where Walter and his parents were standing. "Ok, I am ready whenever you are."

"Ok. We will see you in a couple of hours, depending on the situation it maybe be longer. If it is more than two hours then one of us will call you, ok."

"That's ok son, take as long as you need. He can stay with us as long as necessary for you to conduct your business.", said Sean.

"Thanks Dad, Mom."

After saying their goodbyes, Paige and Walter got into the car so they can meet up with Veronica and Drew.


	16. Chapter 16

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

 **Author's Note II: I would like to thank everyone for their patience on my posting. I know the postings are slow coming but my life is in chaos right now. Also, if you haven't read it yet, I posted the first thing that I ever wrote several years ago in my personal notes. I didn't know where else to put it considering it had nothing to do with any tv show or anything in particular. I just decided to share something with everyone out there since there has only been a few people who has ever read it.**

Chapter 16 Rebuilding Bridges: Drew and Veronica

Arriving at the hotel around 9am, Walter and Paige went in and called Drew from the house phone to let him know they were downstairs and to get Veronica as well.

Sitting in the breakfast area, "So, do you want to have this conversation here or at the house?" asked Paige.

"I'm thinking here would be ok but if you're more comfortable to have this discussion at the house, we can go there."

"Honestly, I'm not sure where the best place to have this discussion."

"We can ask them where they want to talk, but so far, the house seems to be the place for all of this."

"Well, it does seem more private and if we inadvertently raised our voices we won't be causing a public scene or causing unwanted attention."

"True."

"Good morning you two. If you'd like we can come back at another time if you need your privacy." said Veronica.

Motioning for Veronica and Drew to sit down, "No Mom. We were discussing where would be the best place to have this discussion."

"What are our options at this point?" asked Drew.

"Here or my house." said Walter.

With a questioning look on her face, Veronica asked, "Your house?"

"Yes, Veronica, my house. I bought it when I was here a few months ago when we honored my sister Megan on Pattern's Day."

"Oh."

"I'm good at either place." said Drew.

"Me too.", said Veronica.

"I'm good either way myself but Paige had just voiced some concerns just before you two showed up.", said Walter.

"I just voiced concerns that we may inadvertently raised our voices and may cause unwanted attention regardless if we are having this discussion here where we are sitting or up in one of the rooms. The house may be more comfortable and private where we can say whatever and no one will be watching us."

"The house sounds like the best place, besides, I would like to see what kind of house Walter has.", said Veronica.

"I'm good with that too.", said Drew.

"I guess we will go to the house then.", said Walter.

As the foursome got up to leave, they were unaware of the attention they already received. Especially one person in particular. As the group was walking out to their cars, Walter's phone began to ring.

"Hello."

"Walter, this is Seamus McGinty."

"Mr. McGinty, how are you doing this morning?"

Good, good. I have decided to go ahead with your plan. I also want to know how long it will take you to get this set up and also the obvious question. How much?"

"Well, I do have my whole team here and I am fairly certain we can get everything set up in one day so we can have a good test run the next day, if that is ok with you. Now, as far as the cost you already have bought the equipment that you need so I am just going to leave it at that."

"NO. This is a business deal and I want the full amount that you charge any other client."

"Trust me, just feed us and I will call it even."

"No. I want a bill nothing less. Got it."

"Ok, ok. I will have Paige draw up a contract with the work we will be doing."

"Now, that's what I'm talking about. Business is business nothing else. That is how you make your money."

"When do you want this done?"

"Are you available now?"

"No, not at this time. Umm...how about after lunch. I can get my team together and we can come there and discuss everything all together."

"That will be good. Show up at any time."

"Ok. See you this afternoon, goodbye Mr. McGinty."

Walking back to the car, Walter was hanging up his phone all the while shaking his head, "Paige, upon Mr. McGinty's request can you draw up a contract. He wants me to charge him full price like any other client instead of trusting me with the fact he is better off in just feeding the team."

"Okayyy. Why does he want full price. I would think he would want the cheaper way out."

"He said full price; its business and nothing more, but I am going to give him a choice anyway. He wants to meet this afternoon after lunch along with the rest of the team."

"Ok. Well, let me call them and give them the heads up to meet us at McGinty's say around 1:00pm."

"Ok, that will work."

As Walter and Paige pulled out of the hotel's parking lot. Walter looked back to make sure Drew and Veronica was behind them. What he didn't notice was the added company that was following them.

Arriving at the house, the foursome walked into the house and Walter automatically walked into the kitchen to make some coffee. While waiting for the coffee to brew, Walter checked the security cameras and turned off the security system as well as the cameras.

Veronica walked around the lower level and admired what she saw. "Nice house,", said Veronica.

"Thanks." said Walter. "Why don't we get started. Paige and I need to meet up with the team to help Mr. McGinty with some work in his restaurant."

Nodding in agreement everyone sat down at the dining room table.

"First question: What possessed you two to bring Ralph over here and not call me?", asked Paige.

Drew was the first one to answer, "Honestly, I don't know about Veronica but I never thought about calling you. All I heard Ralph say was "...with or without permission I am leaving with or without you.". I was afraid that if we tried to stop him he would have found a way to sneak out and come over here by himself anyways."

"Ok. But I feel ONE of YOU should have made some sort of effort to call me."

"I wanted to call you but I also was worried that Ralph may have the means to trace cell phones such as mine.", said Veronica.

Smirking, "Oh, I'm sure he does.", stated Walter.

Elbowing Walter in the ribs and giving him a stern look, "Ok, truth be told, Ralph already told me that he is taking full responsibility for all of this and that he coerce you both in this and also I am sure he would have left with or without either of you two. So, here is what I have to offer you because the alternative, I know for a fact, you wouldn't like the alternative. The alternative is me having you both detained for kidnapping my son and taking him out of the country without my permission. The U.S. Government will have a field day with you both, especially, you Mom. So again, WHAT WERE YOU TWO THINKING?", asked Paige.

"We were thinking of the best possible solution on keeping him safe, Paige. I know my parenting skills aren't as great as yours but I didn't think I needed permission to take my son anywhere in the world. And just for the record, you weren't alone in the matter of bringing him into this world." Drew said louder than he intended too.

"I know I wasn't alone when he was created but I have been alone in raising him especially in the last ten years. So, therefore, he is **my** **son** , Drew."

"Ok, so we screwed up. What's new? So, what was the other offer you mentioned?", said Veronica trying to defuse a potential argument between Paige and Drew.

Staring intently at both her ex and mother, "The offer that I have is supervised visitation. This way you both get to see your son or grandson but only with me or Walter present at all times. Maybe and just maybe I can work on regaining my trust in both of you on letting you see him without a guard present and both Walter and myself will determine when that time is based on whether or not we both trust you enough not to leave the state with him or country for that matter without permission.", said Paige.

"Don't you think that is a bit harsh? I mean I know we both screwed up and should have made some attempt to contact you but supervised visitation. Really. Walter are you actually going to agree to this?", asked Drew.

"Personally, I'm not particularly happy with what you did either because you may think it would be ok in the future. So, yes I also agree with Paige on the supervised visitation until further notice. Also, even though I am always happy to see Ralph, I was not happy with running into the three of you like I did. Especially after finding out that a note was left for Paige. Do you two realize that Paige has every right to get the both of you for kidnapping as well as me even though I had no idea that you were even showing up. Just the fact that you two brought Ralph to me was enough to get me charged with conspiracy alone never mind the actual charge itself.", said Walter.

"I understand that and I agree we should have call or texted Paige over this but Ralph just seemed so upset over you leaving like you did, Walter, that all I really wanted to do was make him feel better. So, I just came along with him for moral support.", said Veronica.

"That's all said and good, but what if something happened along the way? How would Paige have known where to look? What if something happened to the note that was left? For example, it fell off the table and slid under the couch or behind something where she wouldn't have seen it. Believe me, with my brain power, I can come up with a million scenarios of what could have happened and most of them aren't so pleasant nor do I want to think about."

"Walter is right. If I hadn't went home and didn't see the note. I would never have thought to look outside of the country and I would definitely have had an Amber Alert sent out and the two of you would have been arrested for kidnapping on the spot, if and when you were found. I may not be a genius but there were an awful lot of scenarios going through my mind the moment I realized the apartment was empty and Cabe was the one who found the note on the table and showed it to me since he had taken me home that night. Just so the both of you know, you three scared the hell out of me that night. So, at this point its going to be supervised visitation or nothing at all.", stated Paige in a matter of fact tone.

"Fine, I'll agree to supervised visitation if it allows me to see my grandson."

"I'll agree to it as well", said Drew reluctantly, "Also I am planning on seeking a second or third opinion on my health issue as well and I would like to look in LA if that is alright with you. It would also allow me to see Ralph when I can if there are no objections about me keeping some form of contact with him since I gave up all rights to him and handed them over to Walter."

"I'm ok with that.", said Paige, "Walter?"

"I'm good with those arrangements but I do have a few questions to ask you, Drew?"

"Ok, I'm listening."

"I'm just going to be blunt and ask what exactly is wrong with you? I mean considering you gave me all of your parental rights without question, I can't help but ask why?

"A few months ago I was out on the practice field when someone hit a stray ball towards me and accidentally hit me with it. Although it only grazed my head, I didn't think anything else about it until I started getting a nasty headache. The Head Coach then made me go to the hospital to get my head examine—no comments please—after doing a CT Scan, the doctor said they found a small mass in my brain. The doctor doesn't know how long it has been there nor can he determine if it is cancerous or not but he did suggest surgery to remove it but he also doesn't know if the surgeon will be able to get all of it or not. The tests he has ran all came back inconclusive."

"Ok, but that still doesn't explain why you signed all of your parental right over to me. I mean don't get me wrong I am more than happy to adopt Ralph but is also seems to me you went forward without all of the facts. What was the doctor's name that talked to you about your condition?"

"The doctor's name is Nathaniel Brewer. I went forward with what I did have as a precautionary measure. When I found out about this a few months ago I began thinking about what would be best for Ralph. Then I remembered a conversation I had with Ralph over the summer of the first year I came back. He brought up the conversation as to whether or not I had ever thought about giving him up all together. At first my feelings were hurt because I know I messed up with him and I thought I was making some kind of amends with him. When he asked me that question it hurt. It made me feel like I lost him completely. Ralph also brought up the question of if I ever decide to give him up that he had already chosen the person he wanted for a dad in his life and he was hoping that person felt the same way about having him as a son. When I asked who that person was he told me Walter. Man, you just don't know how much I hated you at that moment. First, I lost Paige to you but when Ralph revealed that bit of information, I felt like I lost him to you as well. At that moment I didn't care if I never heard your name again. Then, when this mass in my brain was revealed to me, I knew then that if I ever was going to truly do right by Ralph, then naming you as his legal guardian and signing over all my parental rights was it.

In all honestly, I called Ralph and talked to him about all of this that weekend after his birthday. He told me that you two were kind of fighting and Tim was in the picture and he also told he how he was only accepting Tim because it was what you were wanting but you didn't seem as happy in the relationship as you were with Walter. Paige, I'm sorry I didn't reveal that little bit of info to you sooner but I didn't see the need since that was a conversation between me and my son. Ralph also stated that he still wanted Walter as his guardian because, well, I don't know if I understood him correctly or not; he said that you, Paige, stopped accepting him for him when you started dating Tim. He said your whole attitude changed when you started dating the—and yes, Ralph used air quotes—the "normal guy" but no offense to me. I told him none was taken. I really thought about what would be best for Ralph and his feelings when I was making this decision. That is why I chose you, Walter, to be his legal guardian and parent to him. I remembered the ball game I took Ralph too and you were the one who got him to communicate with me by using baseball statistics. I also overheard you, Paige on that same day, when you went up to Walter and began talking to him about Ralph's homework assignment and you asking Walter to talk to Ralph over it instead of me. I noticed then that Walter already took over the role more as a father than as a mentor. I couldn't help but notice that Ralph already was looking at you more as a dad than as a mentor. It also became more evident to me when he got arrested over that video game and was almost charged with triple homicide. After the both of you and Cabe walked away from Ralph and me, I made the remark to Ralph about the situation he was was in was kind of scary and his response was "I want to talk to Walter." In a sense that was when I knew I lost my son in the proverbial sense of the word and Walter gain a son. As much as I hate to admit it, I guess I've known for a while that you were the best choice for Ralph. So,Walter, that is why I chose you to be Ralph's guardian."

"What if Dr. Brewer misdiagnosed you and nothing is wrong with your brain? Are you going to try to take Ralph back?"

"No. The decision I made is permanent and I don't think Ralph would allow me to change my decision if I wanted too. Now, if I was misdiagnosed then, if you two are ok with it, then I still would like my normal visitation after my jail time has been served and the supervised visitation has expired."

"I can agree to it, but again that depends on how long and if and when yours and Veronica restrictions are ever lifted and just so you know that if you have been misdiagnosed and you change your mind about wanting your parental right back and you decide to bring a lawyer in the middle of all this, I'm sure this little incident will be brought up. Other than that I do not have a problem with you continuing your relationship with Ralph."

"I don't have a problem either way but again it will be supervised until further notice. I don't care if I have to put tracking monitors on all three of you, I will know where the three of you are at each and every second you are together if by some reason we cannot be at the garage to supervised you personally. Do I make myself crystal clear on that issue."

"Agreed.", said both Drew and Veronica at the same time.

"Now, I need to get you two on a plane and sneak you Mom back into the United States because of your federal convictions.", said Paige.

"I'm sure I can sneak back home without a problem.", said Veronica.

"Yea, well lets just say I owe someone a favor. There is a plane waiting to take you back to LA where you came from. Looking at Walter, "Richard loaned us a plane when I told him where you were and what Ralph had done."

"Ok, I can do a job or two for him pro bono to make up for it."

The foursome sat and chatted for a few more minutes until Paige got up and called Richard Elia's pilot and told him that they will be ready to go and he would be carrying two passengers back to LA. After Paige finished making arrangements, the group left the house and went to pick up Ralph from Walter's parents and Drew and Veronica said their goodbyes. Paige also called the team and told them that they were going to drop Drew and Veronica off at the local airfield and made arrangements to get the car back to the rental place in Dublin when they got ready to leave on their own time. After seeing, Drew and Veronica off, the cyclone went over to Mr. McGinty's to have their meeting with him.

"Hey Boss. I found your target over here in Ireland along with the others you warned be about. Personally, from what I saw, they don't look too threatening to me.", said the Watcher.

"Trust me, don't be stupid and underestimate them. They may not look like it but they are geniuses and they will surprise you when you least expect it. Just keep your eye on the main target will you. That particular target is worth a lot of money right now.", said Boss.

"Right. There is one problem that I want to bring to your attention. This group is not staying all in one place. It seems like the majority of group is staying at a hotel and three of them are staying somewhere else. I followed them to a house located at 27 Blackrock Road. I don't know if the house they are staying at is a rental or family property but that is where they seem to be holding a lot of meetings and the three that you have named Walter, Paige and Ralph have been staying at the property while the rest of the group is staying at the hotel."

"Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised to see those two make some sort of amends especially with where that child is concerned. But the rest of them, they may not be talking to each other yet. I'm not sure on what to tell you but keep your guard up. Even thought they may be at odds, they will always have each others' back no matter what."

"Yes sir."

"Call me and tell me if the main target is on their way back to the U.S. or not."

"About that, I did follow the target but they seemed to be going to a local airfield so I stopped following them because I didn't want to be obvious. I don't know who if anybody got on the plane. So, what do you want me do?"

"Keep following them around until they look like they are all returning to the States then come back with them. Just keep your regular check-in times and keep me posted on things happening on your end. Also, let me know if you see the target at any time.", said Boss.

"Yes, sir.", said the Watcher.

Arriving at McGinty's, Walter led the group inside. "Hey, Mrs. McGinty, is Mr. McGinty here? We were suppose to have a meeting with him after lunch."

"Oh, good day to you Walter. Yes, he just got in. Give me a minute and I will go and get him for you. In the mean time go and have a seat in the area where the lot of you had dinner the other night."

"Ok, thank you Mrs. McGinty."

Walking back to the back of the restaurant and taking a seat, Walter began telling the rest of the team about the plan that he and Paige laid out for Mr. McGinty when Walter notice Ruby had walked into the room.

"Hello everyone. Mrs. McGinty asked me to come back here and see if any of you needed anything to drink?

Everyone began placing their drink order when Mrs. McGinty walked in to let the group the know that Mr. McGinty will be in there soon.

Soon after Ruby brought the drinks in and was in the process of passing them out, Mr. McGinty came in and addressed the team. The group sat there and talked about how they were going to proceed in revamping the computer system throughout the restaurant and where the best place to set up the extra order stations. Mr. McGinty even agreed to close the restaurant for one day in order to get everything up and running.

"How early do you want us in here in the morning?"

"How early are you wanting to be in here in the morning?"

"The earlier the better."

"You pick the time."  
Looking at the rest of the team, "5:00/5:30 in morning ok with everyone?"

Everyone agreed to the time when Mr. McGinty, asked the one thing that Walter was hoping he wouldn't ask for. The contract.

"Now, like I said business is business where is the bill?"

Taking the contract from Paige, "Mr. McGinty, before I hand you this contract the offer still stand on just feeding us."

"Just hand me the contract. Like I said earlier, business is business nothing more."

"Ok."

Taking the contract and looking at it, Mr. McGinty sat there and stared at it and contemplated on what Walter just offered him in returned. He knew what he said about business is business but the whole bill without the computer equipment added in was more than he thought it would be. "I think I will take you on your other offer and just feed your bunch the whole time you are here if you don't mind."

"Accepted Mr. McGinty."

"Agreed and don't tell Aileen about this deal. If you do I'll never hear the end of it."

Laughing, "Deal."

"We will see you in the morning around 5:00 or little after then."

"How about if I just give you the key and the alarm code and you let yourselves in that way I don't have to get up so early. I will also let the Garda know that you are going to be in here at that time so they won't think you are breaking in or anything. I will also have Aileen make sure the coffee pot is ready to go because I am sure the lot of you will need it."

Chuckling a little, "Ok Mr. McGinty and thank you."

After receiving the key and the alarm code the team left the restaurant and went to Walter's house since there was yet another meeting that still needed to occur. Ian Doogin was suppose to meet him there around 4:00 to give him some information and determine if it was worth breaking into his house for or if Walter should take his information straight to his superiors. Leaving the restaurant, Walter turned to his team and told them that he was expecting Ian Doogin at his home at around 4:00 and that they were going straight to the house. He also told them that Ian was expecting them to be there whether he liked it or not.

Entering the house everyone made themselves at home and waited on Ian Doogin to arrive while Paige went into the kitchen to makes some snacks and coffee for everyone. She was a little apprehensive about Ralph being in the house while Doogin was there because she was not sure what to expect from him at this point. She was just worried that Ralph may be in danger since she already knows that Ian had already broken into the house once already. Paige was looking out the kitchen window when she saw something that didn't seem right. As she was getting ready to bring the issue to Walter's attention there was a knock at the door. Walter went to answer the door and upon opening the it there stood Ian Doogin.

"Hello Ian, come in."

"Thank you." Walking through the door, Ian immediately noticed the rest of the team sitting around the living room in various places.

"Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Paige Dineen, she is our liaison and office manager. She helps us relate to normal people in general. This is Cabe Gallo, he is our Government Handler. Since we are government contractors we need him to help get us through customs if necessary as well as just getting us out of trouble in general sometimes like if we needed to carjack a police car for the greater good clause of our work. This is Sylvester Dodd he is the statistician and mathematician in our group. He is also my brother and also known as our human calculator. This is Toby Curtis. He is our psychiatrist/behaviorist. He can tell when someone is lying and could probably tell you everything that you don't want us to know about you without you even saying a thing. This is Happy Quinn. She is our mechanical engineer. She can make or break anything regardless if you are on it or not. This is Ralph, he is the youngest member of this team and just as smart if not smarter than me. As far as myself, my thing is computers. As you already know I can hack into anything in a matter of seconds. All of us together makes up Team Scorpion. Everyone in this room is a genius with the exception of Paige and Cabe. Now that everyone has been introduced, is there something you like to tell me?", asked Walter.


	17. Chapter 17

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

 ****Finally, I have had this chapter written for a few weeks but it was trying to get it proofread was taking forever. Hope you enjoy it and thank you everyone for your patience.**

Chapter 17: Ian's Problem(s)

Ian just stood there looking at Walter and the rest of the team with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He couldn't fathom the brain power in that one room considering he just found out that he was in a room with five geniuses.

"Yes, I do have some information to give you but I'm still not sure how any of you can help much less trust any of you."

"You can trust us Ian. You are also stuck between a rock and a hard place at this point considering you broke in here.", said Walter.

"Look, I know what I did was wrong but what I was suspecting you were doing here was understandable. Considering you showed up out of the blue, I suspected you were involved with the a scam that I know is going on even though my Captain says is a waste of time."

"What kind of scam do you think is going on?", asked Cabe.

"I call it a 'land scam'. There are two people who are sending out information stating that the owners owe back taxes and if they don't pay then foreclosure is imminent.", stated Ian.

"This is more personal for you than anything. You or someone close to you had this happen to them. I'm guessing a loved one. Oh, your eyes widened, I am close. I'm going to go with parents. Right or wrong?", asked Toby.

"Right. How did you figure out it was my parents let alone personal for me?", asked Ian.

"With you being a cop, you of all people should know body language says everything. I'm just read people better than others.", said Toby.

"Ok. Well, here is all of the information that I have found so far on these people. I'll tell you now, it isn't much.", said Ian.

Walter took the folder and looked at the contents. "This is it?"

"I said it wasn't much."

"Ian, this is exactly ten sheets of paper. Just a simple background check is all this is. Do you have anything else."

"No. Like I said, not much."

"So, why did you think that I was involved and why did you break into my house? What were you hoping to find?", asked Walter.

"When I first noticed the car here, I didn't think too much of it but then I got to thinking that you may be a part of this scam and Trevor and Arabella Dabney was bringing someone extra to either help them or at worse scam them. When I tried doing a background check I couldn't find anything recent on you with the exception of a juvie record. So, I went down to the county records and all I found was a card with your name, date of birth, and so forth but I also noticed that your record was expunged and permanently sealed by a judge and the United States Federal Government. Care to explain?"

"Other than my hacking into a United States Federal Institution such as NASA when I was eleven years old, there isn't much to tell. Cabe here was the person who arrested me for it and took me to the prison in Callan and kept me there for three days. Just before I was officially arrested Cabe had a tact team to invade my house with assault weapons and whatever else he thought was necessary. After Cabe brought me back home he kept in contact with me until I was sixteen years old. I was asked by Cabe to develop a software program to drop aid packages in Baghdad but to my surprise that was not what my program was used for. Instead, it was weaponized and used to drop bombs killing 2000 people or more. After that, I became so angry with him that I dropped all contact with him until three years ago when he tracked me down because he needed my help to land fifty-six airplanes because of a computer glitch at LAX. After I learned what actually happened with the Baghdad incident, I finally forgave him for not telling me. Since then, I have moved to the United States along with my sister who was suffering from a rare form of MS. She died from it last year and we honored her on Patterns Day a few months back. That was also the same day I bought the house. I have lived in Los Angeles, California for that last several years where I formed my team called Scorpion. We solve complex problems that a normal person cannot solve. Now why did you break into my house?

"I broke in hoping to find something on you and if you were associated with Trevor or Arabella Dabney or both of them."

"And did you find anything?"

"Not in the house. I did go out to look in the barn but it was padlocked so I was unable to look in there. Would you care if l looked now?"

"No, I don't mind but I never put the padlock on the barn and just so you know I haven't been out to the barn since I have been here. I haven't taken the time to go out and look in there. How about we go out there and look now?"

"Ummm...before you two go out to the barn, Trevor and Arabella Dabney isn't who they say they are. I used the pictures from their driver's license. I did a facial recognition and I found that Trevor and Arabella Dabney are actually Noah Louis Matthews and Emily Anne Stewart. Noah here was born in London, England on August 30, 1980. Graduated from Perin's School in 1998 and he proceeded to Oxford University. There he majored in Law and minored in Business and Economics and graduated in the top ten percent of his class in 2002. Parents are Harry and Olivia Matthews. Harry Matthews is a Lawyer who has a law firm in the prominent part of London. Olivia Matthews is a Doctor who works out of University College Hospital. She is a pediatrician who also has her own practice. Noah tried following in daddy's footsteps but was never able to pass the bar which seemed to be an embarrassment to dear ole dad. On the other hand Ms Arabella is actually Ms Emily Anne Stewart. She was born on May 29, 1980 also in London, England. Graduated from Colsten's Girls School in 1998 and proceeded to Oxford University and majored in Business and Economics. She also graduated in the top ten percent of her class. Her parents are Amelia and Dylan Stewart. Both parents are lawyers who also have their own law office but they are not as upscale as Noah's parents. Now, looking at this information I'm guessing Noah and Emily met in college considering they attended the same college at the same time and took one common course and that would be Business and Economics. Even though neither one of them actually followed in their parent's footsteps, they both still had and probably still do have access to law books pertaining to both property law and tax law. That may also be how they are gaining access to tax records on properties in the area and how to scare people into thinking back taxes are owed.", stated Toby.

"I just pulled up bank records and they are raking in millions off of this scam.", said Sylvester.

"Looking at emails, they are also phishing for prospective victims. They are also sending out notices for property for sale all over the world trying to pull in unsuspected buyers.", said Happy.

"How did all of you get this much information in this short period of time and I have been looking into this for almost a year now and all I have come up with was ten sheets of paper?", asked an astonished Ian.

"We're good.", stated Toby.

"Stop and think, we haven't even looked at phone records or who they have texted yet. No telling what we will find there.", said Walter.

"Lets not forget about Facebook and Twitter and any other social media outlets they may use to find their targets.", said Paige.

"Umm...boss. I have something you may need to be aware of and should consider making a phone call.", said Happy.

"Ok, what do you have and who do I need to call?", asked Walter.

Looking at Happy's computer screen, Walter was not happy with what he was looking at. Looking at his watch and calculating the time difference, "I'll call Richard here in a little while and to let him know about the people he is dealing with and let him know that he may be targeted by these two,"

"Who are you talking about?", asked Ian.

"His name is Richard Elia. He is a friend of mine as well as a client from time to time."

"Richard Elia? Hey, I know that name. I read somewhere that he is looking to build a base of operations here in Ireland but it is not clear where he is planning on building his company."

"Ian, I will call Richard and give him the heads up and he may even help us if I asked him too. This man is a tech mogul and architect. I don't think he wants to loose millions of dollars on property that isn't actually there or at the cost of innocent people's livelihoods."

"Are you sure he will listen to you?"

"Yea, I'm pretty sure. If anything I can ask him to fly here as soon as he can to show him the information that has been found. There is a good possibility that he may not know he is a being set up as a victim here."

"How long have you know this Elia guy?"

"We've know him for the last three years."

"Are you sure you can trust him? How did you meet him and what do you really know about him? I know I sound paranoid and nosy over this person but I don't want anyone else to suffer like my parents did. My Father died six months after he found out he was scammed out of the very home he helped build for my Mother and now it is a parking garage for an office complex."

"Ian, we can assure you Richard has a good conscious." said Paige.

"Yea, he even gave Walter one of his nine Ferraris.", said Toby, while at the same time receiving a smack in the back of the head from Happy.

"We met Richard when his daughter was kidnapped by a drug cartel in Mexico. We were suppose to take the ransom down there and find the location of his daughter and wait for the extraction team to get there but instead it was us doing the extracting. Since then we have done several jobs for him over the last three years."

"Ok, but who is he really?"

"How about I call him and ask him to come here then you can meet him and we can see if he knows our prime suspects?", asked Walter.

"Alright, I'm good with that. So, now my one big question is are you going to take that video you have an go to my superiors?"

"Toby, has he been truthful in all of this?"

"Other than being a little distrustful of us, yes, he has."

"Then your secret is safe with us as of right now. Also, from here on out, any information you find on these two, we need to be kept in the loop and visa versa. Deal?"

"Deal. I have another question? What about the barn? For someone who just moved in this week, why padlock the door so quickly?"

"What are you talking about Ian? I haven't been out to the barn since I've been here and there was no padlock on it when I came here to look at it a few months ago."

"The day I came over here and let myself in I went to see what was, if anything, out in the barn. There appeared to be a brand new padlock on the door."

"I didn't put it there and like I said earlier I haven't been out to the barn since I've been here."

"Ok. I'm just asking not accusing."

"I walked around the barn yesterday while I waited on Grandma to take care of a few things around here for Mom. I noticed a loose board big enough for me to crawl through but there wasn't a lock there at the time so I went in just to look around but I didn't see anything considering I had to go back inside so we could leave." stated Ralph.

"Did you notice anything at all while you were in the barn?" asked Ian.

"No, but I was only in there for one minute and forty-three seconds. Although there did appear to be some kind of a vehicle in there at some point."

"That's ok, Ralph. You did good anyway.", said Walter

Turning his attention to Ian, "Unless you need to go out there right at this moment, we can wait until there is more light since it has gotten dark outside." said Walter.

"We can take a look. I do have a flashlight out in my car."

"Go get it then."

While walking out to the car, Ian was lost in thought when he stepped off the bottom step wrong and turned his ankle. Hitting the ground, he hollered out causing everyone in the house to come out to see what the commotion was. Upon exiting the house, Walter called to Toby to get his bag as he and Sylvester helped Ian up and into the house.

Getting him to the couch, "What did you do?", asked Toby.

"I don't know.", Ian said in an agitated voice." I wasn't paying attention and I caught the edge of the bottom step and fell."

"Are you hurt anywhere else? Did you hit your head or any other part of your body?"

"I thought you were a psychologist not an MD."

"I am a psychologist but I also have studied medicine at Harvard as well."

Giving Toby a strange look not sure what he was getting himself into, "Ok, take a look."

Carefully removing Ian's shoe and sock and examining his ankle, "Hey, Walt, you have any ice?"

"Yea." Walking into the kitchen, Walter found Paige already in the process of making an ice pack.

"I was just coming in here to do that."

"I figured from the sound of Ian hollering out, it was going to be needed. It's finished and ready for the taking."

"Ok, thanks."

Turning around to head back into the living room, Walter was stopped by Paige when she put her hand on his arm to stop him from walking away. "Walter, I have one question for you. Do you think you can trust Ian? He did break in her after all and he could be making up the padlock thing as well. I mean, Ralph even said there was no padlock on the door when he went out there."

"As of right now, there really isn't much choice in the matter. All we can do is go out there and look around and once he sees that there is nothing out there then he can start to trust us a little more. Ralph also said there appeared to be some kind of vehicle in there at some point. It wouldn't hurt to take a look."

"Ok, I agree but there is something else. Just before Ian..."

"Ice pack would be nice in here at anytime before this ankle blows up like a hot air balloon." interrupted Toby.

"Go, I'll tell you about it later after everything calms down."

"Ok."

Walking back into the living room, Walter gave Toby the requested ice pack.

"How bad does it look?"

"It looks bad enough. I say x-rays are in order. It may be broken or a really nasty sprain. It is hard to say without x-rays but I am going to go on a say it's broken.", said Toby.

"Well, lets get him in the car so you can take him to the hospital and have an x-ray done on his ankle. The barn can wait another day, to say the least.", said Walter.

"Well, if it is of any help, I can come back out here in the morning and look into the barn considering I would be of no help to any of you at McGinty's tomorrow morning and I won't have to get up as early as the rest of you since you need to be in there around 5am." said Cabe.

"That sounds good but I think it would be best if someone was with you while you search the barn just in case you need help or something. One of us can come with you or I can ask Dad to meet you over here. You never know with the cases we pick up anymore considering our track record.

"True. I will meet your dad over here in the morning say around 7am or whatever time is good for your father if he is available."

"I'll call him after we get Ian out to the car and on his way."

Helping Ian out to the car and getting him settled, Toby and Happy drove him to the emergency room to get his ankle x-rayed. After another hour or so, Cabe and Sylvester went back to the hotel so they could get some sleep since Sly needed to be at the restaurant bright and early the next day. After seeing everyone off, Walter went through and locked up the house for the night and asked Ralph to go ahead and get ready for bed and that he would be up there in a few minutes to translate some more of that book he found not to mention, he was teaching Ralph how to speak in Gaelic Irish. While Ralph was getting ready for bed, Walter made a couple of phone calls as well.

Toby and Happy left with Ian to take him to get his ankle x-rayed. The rest the team stayed at the house to plan out a strategy on how to work on McGinty's Restaurant and help Ian to find the con-artist and prevent the same two people of swindling the families involved out of their land here in Cork.

"I have a question for whoever wants to answer. Why are you guys helping me when no one else will with Trevor and Arabella Dabney or whoever they are? I mean, my own Captain thinks this is all in my head?" asked Ian.

"Well, for starters we are Scorpion and our motto is "We save everyone" and you're part of everyone. But mostly, from what we found out is that you do have a legitimate case here and your Captain really needs to get on board with this or this could end his career for him.

"Didn't you say that your Captain was dead set against you working on this case?" asked Happy.

"Yes, very dead set against it. He actually threaten me with suspension if I let this case get in the way of my other cases. Why?"

"Have you thought about the possibility that he is involved himself. He wouldn't be the first law enforcement officer to take a payoff."

"No, I haven't at least not until now.

"When we get done with McGinty's tomorrow or in between that job we can take a look into his background.", said Happy.

"Wouldn't that raise some red flags if someone started doing a background check on a city official.", asked Ian.

"It probably would if that particular hacker didn't already know how to cover his tracks." said Toby.

"I'm going to hazard a guess and say you are talking about Walter."

"Yes." said Toby and Happy in unison."

Arriving at the hospital, Happy and Toby helped Ian inside and got him registered in and waited with him until he was taken back to be examined.

Entering the exam room, "Mr. Doogin, I am Dr. McGrath and I'll be your attending physician. Can you tell me what happen?"

"I was walking down the front steps of a friend's house and as I was walking down the steps my foot must of caught the edge of the last step and I fell to the ground turning my ankle in the process."

"Ok, it says here on your check in sheet that there is a possible break and requires x-rays. Did you make this diagnosis on your own? Are you a doctor as well?"

"No. I am a Garda not a doctor. The person who made that diagnosis is sitting there behind you, Dr. Toby Curtis."

Turning around and looking at Toby and Happy for the first time, "Dr. Curtis, how did you come to the conclusion that there is a possible break and needed x-rays. What kind of medical practice do you have?"

"I am actually a psychologist but I also minored in medicine. I am also a genius as well. I remember every medical journal I have ever read and I can tell the difference between a break and a sprain."

"A genius, huh. I'm not sure about that but you seem to give yourself a lot of credit don't you?"

"I have an IQ of 178. So, yes, I am definitely a genius."

Giving Toby a look of disbelief, Dr. McGrath turned his attention back towards Ian, he began examining his ankle. "Well, I am going to go ahead an ordered the x-rays. Dr. Curtis, you may be right on the break but the x-rays will tell us more."

Walking out of the exam room, "You love being right don't you?", asked Ian.

"Doesn't everybody.", replied Toby who was smiling.

Ian was going to ask Toby more general questions about the team when a nurse walked in with a wheelchair. "Mr. Doogin, I am Nurse Colleen and I am here to take you to get your ankle x-rayed." Helping Ian into the chair, Ian was wheeled down to x-ray leaving Happy and Toby in the room to wait.

"What is your actual take on his guy?", asked Happy.

"Well, he is telling the truth on everything for the most part but I still think he suspects Walter to be a part of it all. I also think he may suspect all of us in on it for that matter. Other than that I am not sure about him. It is almost like he is trying to prove something to someone. What I don't get it why his Captain thinks this is nothing to be concerned about. Clearly, if we can find that much info on the pair in questioned then why couldn't Ian unless he is being blocked and who else has that authority to block him from getting any information at the precinct besides the Captain."

"Well, I think he is right about one thing. If we try to do a background check on his Captain, we may throw up red flags. Walter or Ralph may be able to pull it off but I would really like to leave Ralph out of this as much as possible."

"Yea really. I would very much like for him not to get arrested and Paige goes all mama bear on us. Remember the last time he was arrested and almost charged with triple homicide and all because Walter was showing him something cool on the dark web."

"Yea, I remember. I thought she was going to strangle Walter for that."

"She didn't need too, Walter was already beating himself up for that so Paige strangling him would have been the easy way for him. All jokes aside, I think Ian isn't sharing everything with us and I think it has more to do with his Captain than anything."

"Probably. But...", before Happy could finish what she was about to say, Nurse Colleen brought Ian back in the room.

After helping Ian back on the bed, Nurse Colleen exited the room leaving the threesome to wait on Dr. McGrath to comeback in.

"I have a question for you. It is about your Captain. Now personally, I think your main issue with your Captain is more personal than professional but either way I think there is a problem between you on both sides of the spectrum here. So, my question for you is, what did you do to your Captain on the personal level. Before you answer, remember I am a behaviorist and I can tell if you are lying to me or not."

"You're scary, you know that."

Toby just gave Ian a smug look.

"Oh, alright. When I was in college I was dating this girl. Everything was going great until she got accepted to a more prestigious school to study medicine. We kept in touch and after I got out of college I entered the law enforcement academy and graduated from there and gotten hired on with the Garda in here in Cork. About a couple of years later I ran into her at the local grocery store and we talked and started seeing each other again. Then about two months later she asked if I would like to meet her parents and I said I would knowing this was a serious step to take but I really like this girl. Well, the day came when I was to meet her parents and she had came up to the precinct and I ran into her there. That was when I found out that she was Captain Donovan's daughter. That man has hated me ever since. He made us break up and she was so mad at him that she left upset that day. Cathleen didn't talk to her dad for a month and he blamed me for that too. This all happened about four years ago..."

Before Ian could finish telling his story, Dr. McGrath knocked and entered the exam room. "Well, Mr. Doogin, I have never had a psychiatrist make a medical diagnosis..."

"I'm a psychologist.", corrected Toby.

"...excuse me, I'm sorry, _psychologist_ , to make a medical diagnosis but you are right. Mr. Doogin you do have a broken ankle. An orthopedist has also looked at the x-ray and he says it doesn't look like surgery is necessary since it was a clean break and only one bone appears to be broken. But you will have to wear a boot cast for at least six weeks and stay off of your foot as much as possible. Is there any light-duty work you are able to do, if not, you will be required to stay off from work until further notice depending on how long it takes for your ankle to heal."

"I'm sure someone will find something for me to do to keep me chained to my desk."

"Ok. Dr. O'Neill will come in here in a few minutes to put a cast on your ankle. He is the orthopedic doctor that you need to make a follow up appointment with as well. If you have any other questions concerning your ankle, then you are welcome to talk to him about it."

"Ok, thank you."

Not five minutes after Dr. McGrath exited the room Dr. O'Neill came in and placed the boot cast on Ian's ankle. Ian was also given the number to make an appointment with and doctor's orders relating to work restrictions. He was also restricted from driving any vehicle which makes it worst considering it will be hard for him to get to and from work.

"Come on, we can take you home.", said Happy.

"Are you sure, considering you are not familiar with the area? I don't want to get you lost or anything."

"Well, considering we have photographic memories I doubt that would be possible but if worst comes to worst we can always call Walter, I am positive he is familiar with the area.", said Toby. "Besides, I want to hear the rest of the story you haven't shared."

"Ok."

After about another thirty minutes waiting to get discharged from the emergency room, Happy, Toby, and Ian left the hospital and were on their way back to Ian's house when Ian made a suggestion.

"I have an idea. I know you guys don't have any clothes with you but if you want too, you two are welcome to stay at my place tonight since you two have an extra early day tomorrow. Not to mention, if it is not too much trouble you can drop me off at work in the morning. I have to be there by 6am anyway."

"I'm good with that, how about you Happy."

"I'm ok with that."

"I guess you will have two overnight guest then."

"Hey Doc, you might want to call Walt and tell him where we are and that we may not be there until after 6:00 in the morning."

"Ok. I got Walt covered, you can call Cabe so he knows that we will not be in our room in the morning and that he will have to drop Sly off unless Walter and Paige are going to pick him up."

"On it."

Both Happy and Toby made their calls while on their way to Ian's home following Ian's directions. What Ian didn't know was that Happy who was in the back seat slipped her com in her ear and texted Walter and the rest of the team that she had put her com in just in case they run into trouble since they just met Ian this evening for the first time. Even though Toby said he was telling the truth thus far that doesn't mean trouble wasn't waiting for them down the road.

"So, Ian, how about finishing that story of yours."

"Ok. Well, like I said, Cathleen didn't talk to her father, which was my Captain then and still is today, for about a month. After she finally contacted him, he didn't like what she had to say to him and that made things between them that much worst. She told him that she was pregnant and he automatically assumed it was mine. When she told me about the pregnancy, she swore it wasn't mine but someone she was dating back in London but broke everything off just before she came back to Ireland. She told me that she was going to tell the expecting father about the baby and to give him the option of being a part of the baby's life if he wanted the opportunity. Well, needless to say, the father of the baby told her that the pregnancy was her problem and not his and for her to deal with it anyway she wants too. When she told me that, I told her to come back home and I would help her take care of the baby and raise the child if she wanted the help. She said she would think about it and make her decision. I didn't know that she had made her decision to come back home to Ireland. After arriving back in Ireland, she was on her way back here to Cork. She had called her dad back and told him everything about the father denying the child and the fact that I would help her raise the baby if she wanted it. She told her dad that she chose to accept my help but I didn't know about it. She was killed in a roll-over accident ten miles from Kilkenny. She was struck by a drunk driver on the driver side and was knocked into a ravine. She died at the scene. Her father took her death hard and for some reason he still looks at me as though I'm the enemy."

"It sounds like he is torn about the fact that they had a falling out for a while and when they finally came back on good terms she was taken away from him again but this time was permanent. He also may hold more respect for you than you know since you were willing to help his daughter raise a child that she says wasn't yours to begin with and you decided on it without hesitation. That says a lot for you and he knows that makes you a better man than you think he gives you credit for. You also need to stop and think that this man not only lost his little girl but also a grandchild in an accident that could have been prevented. Have you even discussed her death at all since then?

"No. The only time he will talk to me is when he is yelling at me or criticizing me over something or both."

"Well, maybe if you can rescue his career with this case that you have given us, he may change his attitude towards you because right now he looks at you as the last person who made a difference in his daughter's life and the only person he can be mad at because he may still think the child was yours to begin with since you were willing to help raise it anyway.", said Toby.

Arriving at Ian's home everyone went inside and Ian showed them to the extra bedrooms since he didn't realize they were engaged at the time. After everyone was settled in their respective areas, the three said their goodnights and went to bed.

Before going to bed himself, Walter called Richard Elia and told him about what the team found concerning Trevor and Arabella Dabney and asked him to come to Ireland so he could talk to him face to face about the whole situation at hand. Richard agreed and said he would be on a plane first thing the next morning. After hanging up from Richard, Walter went upstairs to see if Ralph was ready for bed.

"Hey bud, you ready for bed."

Looking out the window towards the barn, "Yea."

Walking over to the window and standing behind Ralph, "Are you ok."

"Yes and no. When I was in the barn earlier, I did see some tire tracks but I also felt like I was being watched in there. I didn't notice any footprints but that didn't mean somebody wasn't in there. Like I said earlier, I had to go back inside because Grandma was ready to go."

"That is ok Ralph. You still did a good job by telling Ian what you saw and Cabe said he was going to come back here in the morning with my dad and they were going to check the barn out. You ready for some more language lessons?"

Looking up at Walter with a broad smile on his face, "Yea, I'm ready."

Walter translated and Ralph repeated words after Walter for the next thirty minutes before Ralph needed to get to sleep since he was going with the team the next morning.

The next morning, Ian woke up with a pain in his ankle that felt worse than it did when he had his initial injury. He couldn't seem to put any weight on it at all, so he slid onto the floor and crawled to the bedroom where Toby and Happy slept and knocked on the door. Toby got up to see what was needed considering it was just after 1:00am. Upon opening his door he found Ian on the floor and from the looks of him he was in some serious pain and pale.

"Hey Hap. Get up and get dressed. We need to take Ian back to the ER **now**. I have a feeling they misread his x-rays."

Getting up and grabbing her pants and shoes, Happy got dressed and helped Toby get Ian to the living room while Toby grabbed his pants and shoes so they could leave. After getting Ian into the car, Happy texted the team to let them know what was going on with Ian and will let them know more as they get the information themselves.

Arriving at the ER, Toby told them that they were just there and Dr. McGrath was the initial physician who saw Ian earlier that evening and would like for him to be paged for this patient as well as Dr. O'Neill.

After Ian was checked in and placed in an exam room both doctors walked into the room.

"Mr. Doogin, what is going on here with your ankle this time.", asked Dr. McGrath.

"I don't know, I just woke up and my ankle was killing me. I can't put any weight on it and I had to crawl just to wake these two up so they could bring me back here."

"Well, I am going to get another set of x-rays and if we can't see anything definitive from those then I'm going to request and MRI because evidently there is something going on in there that we missed the first time we saw you.", said Dr. O'Neill.

"Ok, I will need to call my Captain because I apparently will not be going into work today."

"That will be a good idea. I will have a surgical team standing by just in case ankle surgery in required., said Dr. O'Neill.

"Greaaaat.", said Ian.

After both doctors exited the exam room, Ian pulled out his phone and called the precinct. "Hey, Arden, who is the duty officer in charge tonight?"

"That would be Lt. Duffy. Would you like for me to transfer you to his extension?"

"Yes, please."

"Ok, hold on. By the way are you ok, you sound as though you are in a lot of pain?"

"No, I am not ok and yes, I am in a lot of pain."

"Oh, what happened?"

"I fell and got hurt earlier and now I'm back in the hospital with the same problem and I will explain things to you later but first could you transfer me to Lt. Duffy before this nurse here gives me something for my pain and I am unable to talk to anyone in coherent sentences."  
Chuckling a little, "Yes. Hold on."  
"Thank you."

"Lt. Duffy, what can I do for you?"  
"Lt. Duffy this is Ian Doogin, I am calling to leave a message for Captain Donovan. I will not be able to make it in this morning. I am currently in the ER at Cork University Hospital. I broke my ankle earlier and was released but now I'm back in here because of the same problem. They are talking about doing surgery but that is yet to be determined. I know I need to call in and talk to him myself but I am not sure if I am going to be able to at the time."

"Understood, I will relay the message to him but you will still have to call him and let him know all of the details."

"Yes sir."

As Ian was getting off of his phone, the nurse who had walked in moments before gave him a shot for the pain. "There will be someone coming into take you to x-ray."

"Ok thanks."

After a few minutes, Ian looked over to Happy and Toby, "You two can leave if you want too. I am a big boy I can handle being here by myself if you want to go back to your hotel and get some actual sleep."

"Happy can go if she wants too. Her being the team's Mechanical Engineer she would be more useful at the restaurant than I would. Don't get me wrong, I can be of actual help but I can also be more help here for you when you get out because you won't be able to drive anywhere with that foot of yours."

"There is one problem here, dummy, we don't have an extra car for me to go back to the hotel with considering we left Ian's car at Walter's house. I also don't think it would be a great idea to go over there and take his car in the middle of the night."

"Well, if we wait a couple of hours, Walter and family will be getting up since we were suppose to be at the restaurant and started by 5am."

There was a light knock on the door and a male nurse walked in with a wheelchair, "Mr. Doogin, I am here to take you to x-ray." Helping Ian into the chair he was wheeled out and down to x-ray.

"Looking at Happy, as soon as he gets back from x-ray, I will drive you over to the hotel so you can get a couple more hours of sleep before the job we have to do today and you can catch a ride with Sly and Cabe."

"I'm good with that."

Before they knew it, Ian was wheeled back into the room and helped back onto the bed. "Hey, Ian. I am going to take Happy here back to the hotel so she can get some more sleep and I will be back to wait on you. While at the hotel I am going to get a change clothes and something to read."

"I'm ok with that. Do whatever you need to do. I'll be here for a while.", Ian said groggily.

After about another fifteen minutes or so, Dr. O'Neill came into the room "Mr. Doogin, looking at your x-rays, there was another break that wasn't caught on the first set of x-rays. Surgery will be necessary with this particular bone. The bone will have to be reset."

Looking at the x-ray that was brought in and hung up to show Ian where the break is at in his ankle, "That break should have been caught then. I am suspecting that the break in question was not as bad as it is now and when Ian put some weight on it, it finish breaking thus bringing us back in here to see you all over again.", said Toby.

"I'm sorry, who are you exactly?", questioned Dr. O'Neill.

"Oh, I am Dr. Tobias M. Curtis. I am a behaviorist and psychologist. I also have medical experience as well. I graduated from Harvard.", stated Toby matter of factually.

"Well, I am the attending physician here and I would appreciate it if you would keep your thoughts to yourself. I don't need a psychological evaluation here." said Dr. O'Neill. "As far as Mr. Doogin is concerned here, we will be prepping you for surgery here in the next few minutes."

Before Toby, Happy, or Ian could say anything about Dr. O'Neill's attitude, the good doctor walked out of the room.

For the next thirty minutes nurses were in an out of the room prepping Ian for surgery and after another fifteen minutes Ian was being wheeled down to a surgical room where he will spend the next couple of hours. While Ian was in surgery Happy and Toby went back to the hotel to freshen up and rest before their assignment at the restaurant.

"Hey Ralph, its time to start getting up bud.", said Walter.

Groaning, "What time is it?"

"Its 3:00am. Don't forget we need to be at McGinty's by 5:00. Now if you want too I can take you over to Mom and Dad's and let you sleep to whenever you want to get up. You don't have to come with us."

"No, I getting up. I want to help."

"Ok, well start getting up and getting yourself ready."

"Ok, ok." said a groggy Ralph.

Chuckling, Walter walked out of Ralph's room and downstairs to make some coffee.

"Is he getting up." said a sleepy looking Paige.

"Yea, he is getting up. Slowly but he is getting there."

"Ok, well I am going to go get ready myself then."

"Ok. Coffee will be ready by the time you get back down here. Do you want me to bring you up a cup?"

"No, it will give me the incentive to hurry up and get back down here."

Chuckling, "Ok, I'll have a cup ready for you when you get down here."

Smiling, "Thanks."

Toby arrived back at the hospital to wait on Ian. While waiting in the surgical waiting room, the phone rang letting him know that Ian was out of surgery and in recovery and will be in the for the next couple of hours. Toby was then given Ian's room number just in case he wanted to go to that floor's waiting room to wait or if he needed to leave for a while he could. Toby decided to go ahead and leave to get some breakfast and went to the restaurant and checked to see what they needed help with, if anything.

Waking up in a hospital room, Ian looked around and was surprised to see the one person he wasn't expecting to be there, Captain Donovan.

"Captain, checking upon me."

"Kind of. I'm also here to give you some information. I know I should do this in my office but I think it would be easier on you if I just tell you here considering your current situation."

"Ok. Apparently it isn't good news so just tell me. My day can't get any worst."

"Well, I'm about to make it worst. I was given an anonymous tip that you broke into someone's house here recently. This person wasn't sure as to why you were there or what you were looking for. So, do you have an explanation as to where you were around 12:00 noon on the 26th of this month?"

"I was looking into a possible lead on the burglaries in the area. I was looking around a house but that was it."

"Ok. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but I am afraid that I will have to suspend you from duty until an investigation is completed. The suspension will also be without pay and if I find out that that stupid land scam is involved the suspension will be the least of your worries. Just so you know, I will be heading this investigation myself since it involves one of my officers."

"Sir, why can't I be put on desk duty during this investigation. I can still follow up leads on my other cases by phone and other means. Don't you think a suspension is a bit harsh at this point? I mean, why are you so worried about my case that I am trying to build on that land scam? What are you trying to hide and trying to keep me from finding out?"

"Watch it Inspector. You are treading on thin ice here." Getting up and walking towards the door, Captain Donovan turned back around to face Ian, "By the way, how did all of this happen anyway?", referring to Ian's ankle.

"I was at a friend's house and I was walking down the steps and as I stepped down on the last step my foot caught the edge and I slipped and fell and turned my ankle as I went down."

"What is the address to this friend's house?"

"I was at Walter O'Brien's house."

"I didn't ask for a name I asked for an address. So, I am going to ask again, what is the address to this Walter O'Brien's house?"

"27 Blackrock Rd."

"Are you sure that was the address that is a friend of yours?"

"Yes. Well he is more of an acquaintance right now considering I just met him. He just moved in at Christmas. I met him when I noticed a car at that address when there hasn't been one there for months. So, I went up and check things out and that is how I met Walter O'Brien."

"Well, that is funny that you are suppose to be friends/acquaintance with him because that it the address that the anonymous tip gave me. You know the house that you supposedly broke into that you are now under investigation for. Rather odd don't you think? Get well soon Inspector.", turning back around Captain Donovan left the room.

Captain Donovan walked out of the room leaving Ian laying there staring after him wondering if Walter had betrayed him or if Captain Donovan was telling him the truth about the anonymous tip. Ian wasn't sure on what to believe but he started wondering what exactly, if anything, Captain Donovan was hiding and hoping he wasn't involved in anything nefarious that would cost him his job.

 **Special Author's Note: My boyfriend's father is doing great. He is expected to be home by the 27** **th** **of this month. I can't wait. That also means that I would be able to post more frequently than I have been. Less stress and less chaos. I also have two more stories that I am also currently working on. The titles are When It Rains and It Pours and Archaic Marriage.**


	18. Chapter 18

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

 **I know this is a long time coming because I do not think I have done this or nor so I would like to give a big shout out to WriterFreak001 for helping me get this story posted. So Thank you. I greatly appreciated all of your help.**

 **I would also like to note that I had recently use the phrase "NASA Nerd" in one of my chapters. As I was writing this chapter it occurred to me that I have read it somewhere and I felt like I have stolen that phrase from someone and for that I am truly sorry. So, I have changed it in this chapter and I am planning on editing the chapter that I placed that phrase in as soon as I locate it. I will be taking a vacation next week and I am planning on looking for it then. Again if I did take that from someone I am sorry and I am planning on changing it.**

 **Final Note on my boyfriend's father he came home earlier than expected and now I hope everything will get back to some normalcy for me and I will be able to post a little more often or at least I hope so. Please enjoy this chapter. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.**

Chapter 18: I Don't Know What To Think

Toby had returned to the hospital to check on Ian and wait for him to be released. He had brought his two favorite books to read while he waited for him to get discharged. As Toby approached the room he heard another man in Ian's room and from the sound of it neither man was happy. Toby decided to wait outside of the room for them to finished but Toby also couldn't help but listen to what was being said. About five minutes after Toby's arrival, unbeknownst to Toby, it was Captain Donovan who exited Ian's room and almost ran into Toby.

"Oh, excuse me sir. I'm sorry, I didn't see ye standing there.", said Captain Donovan.

"Oh, no that is quite alright. No damage done.", said Toby.

Toby let Captain Donovan pass and waited a few seconds to follow the Captain making sure he had gotten onto the elevator before heading back to Ian's room.

Upon entering the room, Toby asked, "How are you feeling?"

Ian all but glared at Toby and wanted to scream, "How am I feeling? Well, lets see, my ankle hurts like hell and your boss ratted me out. So, upon the pain I'm in I am more than furious with Walter. If that is not good enough for you then use that genius brain of yours and give me one of your famous psych evals and tell me."

"Look, before you start thinking the worst of Walter and the rest of us for that matter..."

Before Toby could finish what he was about to say a nurse walked into Ian's room and told him he was being discharged. She then handed him some paperwork on what to do versus what not to do regarding his ankle and the information he needed to make a follow up appointment with Dr. O'Neill.

As she was leaving, Toby waited until she was completely out of the room then walked over to shut the door before he began, "Ian, as I was going to say before the nurse came in is that Walter wouldn't do that. He told you last night that he wouldn't go to your Captain with that information."

"Well..."

Before Ian could say another word a nurse knocked on the door then came in with a wheelchair to finish discharging him.

Getting Ian into the car and settled, Toby got into the driver's seat and started the car, "Look Ian, regardless of what you may think of Walter at this point, you need to trust us."

"I'm not sure what to think at this point and I definitely don't know if I can trust Walter or any of you for that matter. What I do know is that Walter was the only person that knew about me going into his house without his permission"

"Well obviously not because your Captain found out about it."

"That is because Walter was probably the one who called in the anonymous tip to my Captain because he was the only other person there in front of McGinty's when he showed me the video footage of me going into his house."

The rest of the car ride was done in silence. All Toby could think about is that someone was setting Walter and Ian up and that person was trying to cause unwanted trouble. Ian on the other hand, all he could think about was confronting Walter about telling his Captain that he had broken into his house and breaking his promise all at the same time.

Arriving at McGinty's, Ian couldn't get out of the car fast enough. As quickly as Ian was able to, he went into the restaurant and the first thing he did was went after Walter.

"WALTER, WHAT THE HELL? YOU TOLD ME MY SECRET WAS SAFE WITH YOU AND THAT YOU WERE NOT GOING TO GO TO MY CAPTAIN WITH THAT PARTICULAR INFORMATION. AND YET, MY CAPTAIN CAME TO VISIT ME IN THE HOSPITAL THIS MORNING AND SUSPENDED ME WITHOUT PAY BECASUE HE HAD AN ANONYMOUS TIP THAT I BROKE INTO YOUR HOUSE. YOU WERE THE ONLY OTHER PERSON WHO KNEW ABOUT IT SO YOU WERE THE ONLY OTHER PERSON WHO COULD HAVE TOLD HIM. SO WHY DID YOU WHEN YOU TOLD ME YOU WOULDN'T"

"Ian, you need to calm down. For starters I have not talked to your Captain and I have kept my word. I don't know who told your Captain that you broke into my home but it wasn't me. Have you talked to anyone since that day or did anyone else know that you were snooping around my house?"

"NO."

"Look, before you start thinking the worst of all of us, tell me everything that was said between you and your Captain. As much information you can give me the better. Walter may have a God-complex at times but if he said he would keep your extracurricular activities to himself then he would.", interjected Toby.

"What happen is that I just got suspended from my job because of my extracurricular activities. And without pay at that."

"How else would he had known about them?

"I don't know. I didn't tell him."

"Where were you when Walter confronted you about being in his house?"

"Just outside by McGinty's front door."

"Were you two alone?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Fairly sure. What is this? An interrogation?"

"You may call it that but I am going to call it cognitive recognition. Since you are just fairly certain that the two of you were alone there is still a possible chance that someone could have been listening even though you two didn't notice that person standing there. Yes or no?"

"I guess so, but who would call my Captain and tell them I broke into Walter's house?"

"That is the question of the day. Do you have any enemies on the force?"

"No, I don't think so. Hell, I don't know. The only person I can think of that doesn't like me is the Captain."

"Do you think he was the one who overheard you that day?"

"I'm not sure what to think of him anymore. I am beginning to think he is involved with something that he doesn't want me to find out about."

"He may be but there is only one way to find out whether he is or not."  
"What would that be?"

"I say it is safe to say that you are about to find out just how good Scorpion really is." said Walter.

"Ok, but I still can't help but feel that you betrayed me. What did you find out about that barn?" asked Ian.

"I haven't been out there yet. I was planning on meeting Walter's father out there but Sean said he had an appointment this morning so when he was finished with it he was going to stop by here and pick me up so we can go out there and look. If you are up to it, you are more than welcome to come with us." stated Cabe.

"Well, whether I am up for it or not I am going to join the two of you."

Looking up to see who was walking into the restaurant, the whole team greeted Mrs. McGinty who came in to surprise everyone.

"Top of the morning to everyone. I thought I would come in here and make the lot of ya some breakfast since I found out by Seamus about the arrangements that was made between the two of ye." said Aileen who was looking directly at Walter when she made her statement. "You know you shouldn't be doing this practically for free. Believe me, everyone involved with this business venture will received all meals up here for free until ye leave and for every visit here afterwards. I may extend that deal out to your parents as well."

Half smiling and looking a little guilty, Walter looked over to Paige for an answer on how to handle this gesture, Paige just texted on what he should say and let it go at that. "Thank you Mrs. McGinty."

"Your welcome. I thought maybe I would get some kind of an argument out of ye and yet ye surprise me with the opposite. Walter, I can say this much you are definitely not the same kid that left all those years ago." Aileen then exited the bar area and went into the kitchen to start fixing the team some breakfast.

After finishing their breakfast the team resumed their work on the restaurant. Around 9:00 Sean came into the restaurant, "Top of the morning to everyone. Cabe are you still wanting my help to check out Walter's barn?"  
"Yes, I was waiting for you to get here. This is Ian Doogin, he will be coming with us as well."

"Ok. What happen to your leg?"

"I manage to break it last evening while walking down some steps."

"Sounds like you are having the beginnings of a bad day."

"You don't know the half of it."

Shaking his head, "Well, are you sure you want to be traipsing around a barn with that leg?"

"Yea, I'm sure. I will be ok."

"Ok. Do you mind if I have a minute with Walter?"

"No, go ahead and take your time, Sean. Its waited this long I'm sure it can wait a little longer." said Cabe.

Sean and Walter walked to the other side of the dining area, "Walter, I need your help with something if you can spare a few minutes and stop by the house when you get finished here. Unless you have someplace else you need to be?"

"No, I can stop by there after we finish here. Is everything ok. You seemed worried about something."

"I am actually. I have been getting letters saying that I owe back taxes on the farm for a while now and I know I don't. So, I was wondering if you can look over some things for me concerning this whole mess and give me your opinion on it. I'm worried about loosing the farm, Walter. It was where you and Megan were born and grew up. I don't want to loose that."

"I can look over everything for you but I am sure there is nothing to be worried about because there is some information I need to make you aware of and I will do that when I come over this afternoon. I will also be expecting some company sometime tonight. His name is Richard Elia and he may inadvertently gotten involved into something which may also be the same thing you are wanting me to look at. Like I said I will explain everything when we come over this evening. Oh, and expect everyone that is here basically."

Chuckling, "I'll tell your mother. Thanks Walter."

"Your welcome, Dad. See you this afternoon. Oh and thanks for going with Cabe today as well."

"Your welcome, Walter."

Coming out of the kitchen, Aileen noticed Sean on the other side of the dining room talking to Walter. "Sean O'Brien, when did you get here? Do you want anything eat? Oh and by the way, this little business adventure that your son and my husband agreed on is going to be extended out to ya and Louise as well and don't let Seamus tell ya any differently."

"No thanks on the food, Aileen." Looking at Walter a little skeptically, "What business venture are you two into that is being extended out to me and your mother?"

"I made arrangements with Mr. McGinty that instead of me charging him full price of setting up this new computer system that all he had to pay for was the equipment needed and feed the team."

"Basically, you and Louise will be getting free meals when you come in here to eat from here on out. I saw the actual bill and and believe me that is a lot of meals. Not to mention, when is the next time you and your team are going to be here in Ireland after you leave.?", said Aileen who was looking directly at Walter.

Laughing, "I'll definitely take part of that business deal. From the sound of it, Louise and I are coming out on top anyway since we haven't done anything to earn it." Turning to Walter, "Look, I will let your mother know to fix extra for dinner tonight. We will see you later Walter and thank you."

"Your welcome Dad."

Soon after Sean, Cabe, and Ian left for Walter's house, the team started back to work. Mrs. McGinty stayed and worked on paperwork from last night's business and made sure the restaurant was clean for the next day's opening. The team was down to completing the task at hand when the door opened up and in walked Kerwin Addlywood.

"Mrs. McGinty, could I get my usual order to go? Please." asked Kerwin.

"No, not today. If you haven't notice we are not open for business today or did you not notice the sign as you walked in?" asked Mrs. McGinty.

"No, I didn't notice the sign. Why are you closed today?"

"We are having some maintenance done today. I can get you a cup of coffee though but the kitchen is closed for the day. If all goes well we will be open tomorrow at the usual time."

"There is no way I can get a sandwich of any kind.? I mean I am already here."

"No, Kerwin. And quit your whining. It doesn't become ya."

Walking out to the bar area, "Mrs. McGinty, we are going to do some test runs on the system to see if everything is working properly." said Walter.

"So, I take it the everything is closed to me but not Nerdface over here." complained Kerwin.

"Kerwin." greeted Walter. "Tell me something, how old are you? I mean you still treat me like we are in junior high instead of as an adult. You know full well my name is **not** Nerdface and is Walter O'Brien. So, why act the way that you do? Exactly, what are you teaching your kids, if you have any?"

"At least I have children to teach. More and likely you still haven't been with a woman to know the difference unless you don't prefer women. Besides, aren't you forgetting where you were on the food chain in school because personally I still think you belong there. You think you are smarter than anyone else in the world and we were always beneath you thus giving the reason why people treated you the way they did. You were weird in school and you still are; and you don't deserve the respect that you think you do."

"Kerwin, I never thought I was better than anyone but I was smarter than you and still am as far as that is concerned. You acted like everything had to be given to you instead of earning it. Like for instance, when we had group projects together you would never do your share of the work. It was always left up to me. For example, that one particular time when we both failed that class science project is because you wouldn't do your share of the work and I decided I wasn't going to do it for you so therefore we both failed the assignment. Then afterwards you jumped me because that caused you to have to do extra credit work to pass the class. But, if truth be told, I am long past that. I have grown up and made a good life for myself. If it weren't for people like you who were constantly bullying me, I may have never left Ireland and went to the United States. Then I would never had met Paige and Ralph nor any other member of my cyclone. So I guess, I should be thanking you for that. So, thank you Kerwin." Turning to Mrs. McGinty, "Now, Mrs. McGinty, we are getting ready to do test runs on the system. What we are about to do is put in dummy orders to see if everything is transferring to the kitchen properly as well as to the bar. This new system will separate any order that comes through. If it is suppose to go back to the kitchen then the kitchen will receive the order to be prepared only but it the order is for the bar's preparation only the bar will get it. We are almost finished with new order stations as well so everything should be up and running by tomorrow when you open. If you want too you can use Kerwin's order as a good test run but that is up to you."

Kerwin was about to say something insulting to Walter when Ralph came out from the back. "Hey dad, do you know where Mom is?"

"Hey Ralph, Umm... I'm not sure, she may be in the restroom if she isn't in the back."

"Ok." Ralph turned around and went back into the kitchen.

Turning back around and noticing Kerwin watching him and Ralph, "What? And before you answer that don't you dare say anything negative about my son."

Before Kerwin could say anything to Walter, Paige walked up to the bar. "Hey, your Mom texted me a moment ago and asked if we needed anything from the store. So, I was thinking if I am not needed here I am going to go grocery shopping with your Mom and go straighten up the house a bit and check in with Cabe, Ian, and your Father. If that is ok?"

"Sure, I'm ok with that. We are beginning to do test runs here so you can go do whatever you need to do."

"Ok. I'll get my things and see you at the house later on then."

"Ok. Oh by the way a few of things. First, Ralph was looking for you a moment ago. He is in the back. Second, Dad asked if we could come over for dinner tonight. I hope you are not making any dinner plans for us because I told him yes. He was also asking me to help him with something as well this evening. Third we are expecting some company sometime tonight and may be staying with us. I'll talk to you more about the latter two later."

"Ok. I'll call you when I get home then."

"Ok." Paige then left Walter at the bar to go find her son and to get her things.

Walter turned back around and found both Mrs. McGinty and Kerwin looking at him, "What are you both looking at? You two act like you have never seen me carry on a conversation with someone before today."

"I don't know about Mrs. McGinty, but personally, I just can't figure out how you of all people manage to get a girl that beautiful to fall for you and have a kid with you. I'm just amazed is all. I still think you are at the bottom of the food chain though." grumbled Kerwin.

"Well, Ralph isn't mine biologically. I just adopted him a few days ago. Ralph is Paige's son from another chapter in her life. He may even be the better part of me.

"Well, I think he is doing quite well for himself. At least he is trying to make something of himself and he has changed a lot from that boy that left here. As for you, from the way you are acting right now that is more than I can say for ye. Now grow up and act your age. Besides, Ralph can pass for Walter's natural child any day. From what I have observed, he acts just like Walter."

"I have made something of myself. I just didn't leave the country to do is all. I just can't figure out how he managed to get someone that beautiful and doesn't appear desperate at that."

"You need to behave yourself.", said Aileen McGinty then turned around and walked back into the kitchen calling over her shoulder, "I'll get that sandwich for ya and that is only because Walter asked to use your order for a test run. I figure if it was going to be put in I might as well fix it. And quit talking about Paige like that or I'll start charging you double."

Walter was about to say something to Kerwin but Mrs. McGinty beat him to it and felt like the threats made by Mrs. McGinty were enough.

Walking into the kitchen area, "Ralph, honey what did you need earlier? Walter said you came out looking for me."

"Nothing really, I just got to thinking that we didn't celebrate Christmas with Walter and was wondering if we are going to do anything special here?"

"You know, I really haven't thought about it. I do remember that we still haven't opened any of the gifts up at home either, so do you want to celebrate it here or wait until we get home to do that?"

"Why can't we celebrate it on both sides of the world. If nothing else, we can just do dinner."

"I tell you what, how about I discuss it with your grandmother while we are doing grocery shopping and see if she has any ideas on the matter."

"Ok, That will work."

Giving her son a kiss on top of the head, Paige grabbed her purse and left the restaurant not before stopping and asking Walter if he needed anything in particular from the store and giving him a kiss on the cheek with Kerwin watching in disbelief.

"Oh, by the Kerwin, I was never that desperate.", with that being said, Paige left Kerwin sitting there embarrassed and looking at Walter with a shocked expression on his face.

"Don't look at me. She has mom-ears or have you forgotten about the twelve-year-old in the back." Walter never mentioned that they had coms in so they could communicate with each other throughout the restaurant and that Paige was the one who told Walter through the coms not to say anything to Kerwin and let what Mrs. McGinty said to him be enough.

Arriving at Walter's house, the trio got out and look around the barn to see if anything may be out of place. Approaching the front of the barn, "I know I saw a brand new padlock on here the other day. So, why isn't there one here now." asked Ian.

"I don't know. Lets go in and look around and see if we can find anything.", stated Cabe.

"Look, I know you both trust Walter and I am trying too but given the present circumstances, it is hard for me to do that at this point.", said Ian. "Besides he could have came out here and taken it off and removed anything he may have had hidden in here since he was the one who showed me the video footage that got me suspended from my job and possibly fired."

"What were you suppose of done?", asked Sean.

"I picked the lock on his front door and let myself in without him knowing about it."

"If you ask me you deserve what you got.", said Sean a little sarcastically.

"Maybe but he said he wouldn't go to my Captain and yet my Captain still found out about it. So, you tell me, how else did my Captain find out about my "extracurricular activities" if Walter wasn't the one who told him?"

"Well, I can't answer that but what I do know is that Walter can keep a secret. Believe me, I have heard a few confessions from him a couple of days ago I wished I didn't find out about and I kind of hope his mother never does."

"I'm not sure what to think any more. Lets go get this barn checked out. I don't know what exactly I'm looking for so I guess I will know it when I see it."

"You do realize that anything you do find in there could very well be from the previous owners of this house. Right.", stated Cabe.

"Yes, I do realize that but don't you think it is strange that I come out here and there is a brand new padlock on the door and then all of a sudden there isn't one according to Walter's son and Walter says he hasn't taken the time to come out here since he has arrived here."

"I see what you are saying but what I'm also saying is that Walter will not necessarily be responsible for what ever you may find in there."

"Understood."

Walking in the barn, the first thing that Ian noticed was the tire tracks that Ralph had mentioned. He then took out his phone and took a picture of them and began looking round to see if there was anything else that may stand out as out of the ordinary.

"Do you see anything incriminating in here.", asked Sean.

"No but then again I just started looking so give me a moment.", requested Ian.

"How about I go up in the loft and see what I can find?", asked Cabe.

"I'll go up there with you. No offense but I don't want you hiding anything that may incriminate Walter. If you haven't noticed, I'm still kind of mad at Walter and I don't want anyone protecting him at this point.", said Ian.

"Suit yourself hop-along." said Cabe.

"I guess I will come up there with you unless you need me to stay down here and guard the door.", said Sean.

Getting an eye roll form Ian, all three men went up to the loft and began looking around. Ian was hoping to find something to connect the dots with Trevor and Arabella Dabney but found something totally different instead which had nothing to do with the land scam. He started finding a lot of the odds and ends things that have been taken from some of the home burglaries. Suddenly all three men were startled by a noise in another part of the loft. With weapons drawn and approaching the noise with caution, the three men found the source of the noise and was shocked by what they did find.


	19. Chapter 19

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

Author's Note: I like to thank everyone who voted on which choice to write for in this next chapter. Bna1001 requested that I put a summery from the last chapter so I am going to start putting them in there since I can't update as regularly as I was in the beginning.

Summary:

This whole story was set just after the Christmas episode aired, of which I did not like how that ended. In my opinion, it seemed like everyone was blaming Walter for everything that was going wrong and Tim did no wrong in the world especially in Paige's eyes. She seemed like Walter was the one at fault for everything that went wrong ever since Tim came onto the team and she never acted like Tim should be held accountable for any arguments that happen between Walter and Tim therefore in her eyes Tim did no wrong whatsoever. Even the rest of the team were non-supportive of Walter during that time. With that being said, everyone had left Walter alone at the end of the Christmas episode. When Paige left the garage with Ralph and Tim like they were a happy family Paige was glaring at Walter like it was his fault that Ralph was kidnapped and for Tim's decision for leaving which was Paige's idea not Walter's and for ruining Christmas in general, so I had put Walter upstairs on the couch in his apartment contemplating on what had happen as far as him thinking about everything that happened between him and Paige ever since Tim came on board the team via Homeland's decision and Tim and Paige's decision but not his own. As he started remembering, he incidentally began remembering his experience from the rocket and that was when it all really hit him. Paige had said she loved him after he confessed his feelings and yet she remained with Tim. Feeling hurt and betrayed and alone, Walter decided to pack his bags and leave for Ireland. Without anyone knowing, Walter had bought a house when he was there to celebrate Megan's Pattern's Day. Since he didn't think anyone noticed him being there, Walter had left and looked at a house and for some reason decided to buy it and went back to his parents not telling anyone where he went since no one asked him where he was during his absence therefore giving him reason to believe that no one had missed him while he was gone. In the mean time, he had left everyone a note on how he felt betrayed by each one of them especially Paige. He also hinted at on giving up Scorpion and shutting the whole operation down altogether. In the mean time since his arrival back to Ireland, he met new people like Ruby and Ian, and old enemies such as Kerwin, Tomas, and Connor. Luckily for him Tomas and Connor kept the truce he made with them during his last visit. The only person he was not upset with was Ralph. Even though the rest of the team was searching for Walter, Ralph was the one to find him and snuck off along with Drew and Veronica. Needless to say the team was not too far behind. As soon as Drew and Veronica arrived in Ireland and met up with a surprised Walter, Drew gave all of his custody rights to Walter thus giving the reason for Ralph to start calling Walter "dad".

Soon after Walter's arrival in Ireland, he met Ian Doogin who was suspicious of Walter right from the start on account of a case he was working on that involved a scam that led up to his father's untimely death and he wanted to catch the people responsible. Thinking that Walter was involved somehow, Ian broke into Walter's house and began snooping around which led him out to the barn where he found a brand new padlock on the barn door. Ian was going to confront Walter about it when Walter confronted him first about breaking into his house. So, Walter gave Ian an ultimatum, he either comes clean about everything or he goes to his superiors and settle things that way. Ian chose to confess everything to Walter unknowing that his team showed up unannounced. The padlocked barn was brought up and Walter claimed he never put a padlock on the barn because he never has taken the time to go out to the barn. Ralph on the other hand confessed then that he had gone out to the barn but no padlock was on the door but there were some tire tracks in the barn on the day he was there looking inside. While going out to the car to get his flashlight, Ian missed a step which caused him to fall off the porch and breaking his ankle and having to have surgery to repair it. While in the hospital, Ian's Captain came in saying that he was told anonymously that he had evidence showing that he broke into Walter's house and suspended him until he conducted his own investigation. As soon as Ian was released from the hospital, Toby took him to McGinty's Restaurant where the team was installing a new and updated computer system to make the restaurant run smoother and faster. When confronted, Walter denied ever going to Ian's Captain and had no idea on what Ian was talking about much less what was actually going on at this point. So, while Walter and the team was finishing up the work at the restaurant, Ian, Cabe, and Sean left to go to Walter's house to check out the barn. Upon entering the barn, the said padlock was missing like Ralph had stated and they also came upon the said tire tracks that Ralph also mentioned that he saw when he went out to look into the barn. While investigating the barn all three men had gone up in the loft area only for Ian to find some of the various items that was reported stolen in various thefts throughout the area and the three gentlemen also found a particular unexpected surprise.

In the middle of all of this, Walter and Paige had an argument of all arguments which led to Walter finding out that Paige broken up with Tim and Paige confessed again that she was in love with Walter and wanted to make things right with him as well as with her son. This also led to the real reason why Ralph left the way he did and why Paige, Walter, and Ralph decided to seek family counseling when they got back home.

Even though some recounts may be out of order, I do hope this is a good summary for everyone. The reason why this summary was so long was because it was covering 18 chapters. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 19 Kidnapped

Shocked at what they were staring at, Cabe and Ian lowered their weapons surprised by what they had found.

"Who are you?" asked Ian.

"My name is Malachi and this is Sorcha. Please don't hurt us."

"We're not planning too." said Ian.

"How long have you two kids been here?" asked Cabe who was looking around the area.

"A few days. I'm not sure." said Malachi.

"From the looks of things, I going to guess you two are the culprits on some of the home burglaries around here." said Ian.

"I didn't take anything of value just blankets and food. We were cold and hungry", cried Malachi.

"Well, we will talk about that later but first thing first, we need to get you two to the hospital so we can get you two checked out." said Ian.

"Ian, can I talk to the both of you for a moment." asked Cabe.

All three men walked a few feet from the kids. Lowering his voice so only the other two men could hear him, "I have a suggestion, those kids are scared enough and they ran away for a reason from wherever they were at. How about I call Toby and have him to come out here to check them out first. Don't get me wrong, I do agree with you that they need to go the hospital to be thoroughly checked out but lets not throw them to the wolves just yet, they're scared enough as it is. Let Toby check them out and get a read on them to determined what may be going on with these two. This is one way we can gain their trust." suggested Cabe.

"What gives you reason that Toby can get information out them that they can't tell us now?" asked Ian.

"Look son, you don't know these guys like I do. I have been in an interrogation where I spent thirty minutes to an hour trying to get information out of a suspect and he went in there and got everything we needed in less than a minute. Toby is that good."

"I've seen my son and his team do some things that I didn't think was possible much less work. Walter and the rest of the team as well as Louise and myself were stuck in a hospital with some kind of fungus running through it causing everyone to fall ill too and the hospital was on lock down because of it. The team was separated at that and yet they still managed to find a cure and get it spread throughout the hospital. I've also seen them figure out how to keep a toxic cloud from killing everyone is this village and they were separated literally half a world apart. I say trust Cabe when he says you can trust my son and his team." said Sean.

"Ok. But I still don't see why they would talk to Toby over us. Those two know him as well as they know us at this point which is not at all not to mention they should still be taken to the hospital to get check out properly by a medical doctor and not a shrink." said Ian.

As the three gentlemen started to walk back to the kids, the barn door opened up. The trio walked over to the railing to see if Walter was coming in when they heard a truck pulling in instead. Ducking down, Sean quickly walked over to the children and motioned for them to be quiet and stay hidden while Cabe and Ian stayed closer to the railing and hopefully out of sight so they can better observe what was going on.

"Hey, lets get this done. We don't know how much time we have since this place was sold and the new owner decide to show up out of the blue. So, this will be the last time we meet here. I have been putting a different padlock on the door to keep things stored here to give us another day or two but that won't last long. So lets start loading the product so when the other truck gets here we will already have a head start and hopefully get the rest of the product on the other truck so we can get the hell out here before anyone suspects anything." said Darin

Getting a phone call that lasted about thirty seconds, "Hey, great news, the other truck will be here in a few minutes so if we can keep up our luck, we can be in and out before the owner shows up here." said Peadar.

"That is great news. We get in, get done and get out before anyone is the wiser." said Darin. "Besides I still have another job to do that involves a little hunting around here."

"What might you be hunting for Darin?"

"Just a couple of strays nothing for you to worry about. Besides, do you think I only work for Trevor Dabney?"

"I don't know all of your employers and I don't care too much about it either."

Chuckling. "The less you know the better off I will be. You know, honor among thieves and all."

"Yea, I know. Honor among thieves."

The two men just finish loading the product onto the first truck when someone blew their horn. "I'm going to kill that fool if he doesn't stop with the horn." said Darin.

Opening the door, the third party drove the truck into the barn. Getting out of the truck, Darin approach the driver, "O'Leary, what is wrong with you. I know you are a stupid Garda but did you have to blow the horn? We are not exactly wanting attention around here you know."

"Its not like we have a lot of time at this point. Lets get this stuff loaded and get out of here before the owner's wife gets home. I was walking out of the store when I ran into Mrs. O'Brien who was going into the store and she had some woman with her. She said that her son was here visiting and bought a house over in this area so I am guessing that this is his place and I'm also assuming that woman with her is the daughter-in-law, so lets get this done and gone before they get here." said O'Leary.

"Alright but just be careful about using that blasted horn again." said Darin.

"Ok, ok."

Pulling into the drive, Paige and Louise pulled up to the house and got out of the car. "Well, do you think we can get the fellas to help us bring in the groceries?" asked Louise.

Giggling a little, "Well, I don't know. Maybe. The car is still in the garage so at least they are still here to ask." Grabbing some of the grocery bags, "Here, I will let you in the house and I will go out to the barn and asked them if they could help and maybe fix them something to eat for their efforts."

Laughing, "Ok. I'll start bringing in the rest of the groceries while you get those guys."

Smiling, "Ok." Walking out the back door, Paige walked out to the barn.

Up in the loft, Ian recognized his fellow Garda officer, Michael O'Leary. Ian couldn't believe what he was looking at which raised a lot of questions for him. Cabe sat there watching trying to figure what was going on. Both men were just hoping that no one behind them would accidentally make any noise to alert their unexpected company to their presence. Just then Paige opened the door and walked in on their unexpected company instead.

"Who are you?" asked Paige.

Pointing a gun at her, "The question is who are you?" asked Darin.

Being somewhat frightened, Paige put her hands up and took a step back, "I'm Paige."

"Who else knows your here?"

"My family."

"What made you come out here today?"

"I-I-I just wanted to see what was out here. We just got here at the beginning of the week and we haven't taken the time to explore the entire property and I just figured since I had the house to myself I would just come out here to look around the barn to see how we could utilize it for something more than animals."

"Mmm. So if we look in the house, we will find no one in there?"

"The house is still locked."

Sensing Paige was starting to get herself in trouble, Cabe was about ready to step in and make his presence known when Ian stopped him and shook his head.

"Hey, man. Stop. Look lass, for starters, I apologized for his behavior. I'm Michael, remember we met at the grocery store earlier, you were with Mrs. O'Brien."

Paige nodded in response since she wasn't sure if she could trust her voice.

"I am guessing you are an American from the accent that you have. Well, I am with the Garda which is like the police there in the States. We were just getting the rest of his things out of the barn nothing more. He is a little upset that his Dad left the entire estate to his worthless brother and not to him and his brother ended up selling it out in lots. The house just happened to be on this lot and sorry to say his brother isn't sharing the profits. So, just go back in the house and give us another five or ten minutes and we will be gone and you will never see us again. Ok." ask Garda O'Leary.

"Ok." said Paige.

Paige was a little scared about turning her back on these two because she was worried about getting shot in the back. As soon as she was cleared of the barn, she broke into a run and ran back to the house and in through the front door.

"O'Leary, what the hell, man? Why did you tell her you were a Garda for? What were you thinking? Now that you let her go back to the house or back to her car

to leave, she is going to go blabbing to the Garda about some strangers in her barn. You should have let me taken care of her here once and for all."

"You're being an idiot, Darin. By letting me reveal myself as a Garda, she will less likely call the Garda on you. You just scared her is all. Anyone would be given the fact that you placed a gun in her face without hesitation. Now, lets get finish up here while she is getting herself together. The longer we stand here and discuss the matter the sooner she calms down and then maybe call my Captain and that wouldn't be good for either one of us."

"Yea, I guess."

As soon as both trucks were loaded, O'Leary left the barn and as he was leaving he noticed the car was out front when he left Darin and Peadar out in the barn to finish strapping everything down. Needless to say he never noticed the other car that was parked in the garage.

"You know Peadar, I don't trust that woman. She may call the Garda anyway. I say take her with us. What do you think?"

"I am kind of agreeing with you. We don't know who she is or what her husband does for a living and she saw your face on top of that. I say take her so she doesn't tell anyone not to mention what if she was lying and there was another person in the house who was watching everything."

"Good point. Lets go apologized to the lady, shall we?"

"Good idea. I mean considering you scared her and all."

After leaving the barn, Paige all but ran back to the house and went through the door and slammed it shut and locking it all at the same time and then leaning against it trying to catch her breath.

Looking at Paige after her grand entrance, "What wrong with you? You look like you just seen a banshee?"

Paige began searching frantically for the car keys, "I think worse. Where are the keys? We need to get out of here and quick? I'll explain later."

Holding the keys up, "Right here."

"Great lets go."

Practically running back to the front door, Paige jerked it open, hoping not to find anyone on the other side of the door. Unfortunately, she wasn't so lucky. She ran into Peadar and Darin.

"I knew I couldn't trust you. Not to mention you lied to me. You had someone else in here with you as a look out just in case you didn't come back. Which branch of law enforcement are you with anyway. Undercover Inspector from Dublin, Interpol, what? You better tell me something. I would hate for anything happen to that pretty little head of yours." said Darin.

"I'm with none of those. I don't know what you're talking about. I am here visiting family nothing more.?

"You don't sound Irish to me." said Peadar.

"She American and she is here visiting me", said Louise.

"How is she related to you?" asked Darin.

"She is here with my son. I am hoping my future daughter-in-law one day."

"Who is your son?"

"Walter, Walter O'Brien." stated a frightened Louise.

"Come on, you both are coming with me. I need to keep a better eye on you until I figure out what to do with you."

Grabbing both Paige and Louise, Darin and Peadar guided the two women out to the barn by gun point and made them get into the truck.

While back in the barn, "Look we can't leave here until we know they are gone for good and I'm worried about Paige because I just texted her and I am not sure if that would have been enough of a warning as it is for her to get out of the house and quick." stated Cabe.

"I just hope she ran directly to her car and left the premises altogether. I'm also glad Louise wasn't with her." stated Sean.

"I can't believe that not only are those two involved with Trevor Dabney but Michael is also. He was probably the person who told the Captain that I broke into Walter's house in the first place but how would he have known about it in the first place?"

As the three men were standing there contemplating on several different things, they suddenly heard Paige's voice so as they ducked down for the second time, Cabe, Sean, and Ian watched from the loft as Darin and Peadar lead in not only Paige at gun point but Louise as well. Sean nearly came unhinged when he saw his wife in danger but Cabe and Ian kept him from giving away their location when they both pointed at the children that was directly behind him both just as scared looking as Paige and Louise were.

Having their hands bound in front of them, "Get in the truck, NOW." said Darin who was getting in on the driver side. "Don't do anything stupid that could get one or both of you shot." Looking at Paige, "Your future Mum-in-law may want to see you walk down that isle one day."

Paige was placed in the backseat of the pickup truck while Louise was placed in the front seat. Soon after Darin and Peadar sped off with Paige and Louise as their prisoners.

"What the hell, neither one of you did a damn thing to stop them. Why?" yelled an angry and frustrated Sean.

"If we had done something then one of several things could have happened. Those two goons could have shot them directly and left them there and escaped or they could have been shot and killed in the crossfire or one of us if not all of us could have been killed including the children. Either way we were screwed." said a frustrated Cabe.

"Besides, I don't know about Cabe but I didn't exactly bring any extra clips for my weapon and this one isn't fully loaded on top of that. I was suppose to be coming to an empty barn while on suspension from my job, remember." stated a frustrated Ian.

"I'm calling Walter. One, he needs to know about his Mother and Paige and two, he can probably track them down in less than a minute." said Sean who was dialing Walter's number as he was talking to the other two men.

"Hello Walter." said Sean in an exasperated voice.

"Dad? Is everything ok? You sound like something is wrong?"

In a rather shaky voice, "Something is wrong Walter, very wrong. Something terrible has happen and you and the rest of the team needs to get to your house immediately."

"We are just packing up everything and cleaning up the mess that we made. What happened? Is Cabe and Ian alright?"

" **They are find but you really need to come out here. As we were looking around the barn we came across a couple of children hiding up in the loft but that is not the major problem. There was a truck that pulled into the barn so we hid to see what was going on and while we were hiding Paige and your mother showed up not knowing that there were some strangers in the barn and Paige came out here and ran into them. At first she was allowed to leave due to one of the guys who claimed to be a Garda but after he left the other two men went into the house and brought Paige and your mother out here at gun point and made them get into a truck and left. THEY HAVE YOUR MOTHER SON. GET OUT HERE TO YOUR HOUSE NOW."** said Sean who was all but screaming at Walter.

Walter had been standing at the bar packing up his things when Kerwin had came back in on the phone telling his manager that his work truck was not sounding right and there shouldn't be anything wrong with it since it was brand new and they just got it in today. The rest of the team had already pack their gear up and was cleaning up the area when Happy offered to look at the truck in questioned.

"I can look at it for you if you want?" asked Happy.

Looking at her with a questionable look, "What would you know about a truck engine?" Turning back to his phone, "No sir, I haven't done anything to it. I just went and made the only two stops that was on my list and stopped by McGinty's to grab some lunch and as I was getting ready to leave the truck sound like it was going to blow up so I shut it down and called you."

Sounding frustrated, "Look Kerwin, if you did anything to mess that truck up then all expenses on getting it fixed is coming out of **your** paycheck. Like you said they just delivered it this morning and you were the lucky name that was drawn out of the hat to receive it. I'll send a tow truck to pick you and the truck up."

"Yes, sir" said Kerwin. Hanging up his phone, "Mrs. McGinty, I hope you don't mind me hanging out here until the company sends a tow truck to pick up me and the company truck do ya?"

"No. I don't mind. I might even put you work around here to pay for that sandwich that was given to you. I do need some other work done around here if you are stuck here for a while?"

"Yes, I can help but only until the tow truck gets here and then I will have to go but I can come back after work and finish up since you are closed for the day."

"That sounds good Kerwin."

"I can take a look at that truck before the tow truck gets here you know." said Happy.

"You're a woman, what do you know about a truck engine?"

"A hell of a lot more than you do obviously. I'm not the one who just had to call his boss and tell him that his brand spanking new truck just kick the bucket in some parking lot."

"Kerwin, she is a genius mechanical engineer. She fixed my car all the time before I got a new one." stated Walter.

"That was probably because you were too stupid to fix it yourself."

"You know what, never mind. You just cost yourself and your boss a free once over to see what is wrong with the company truck that **you** are responsible for. Here everyone thought I had a bad attitude all of the time. My attitude is superb compared to his and believe me that is saying a lot." said Happy who walked away from the bar and proceeded to finish up with what she was doing.

"From a clinical point of view, you need a real attitude adjustment. From a layman's point of view, you're an ass." said Toby who also walked away leaving Kerwin at the bar alone with Walter.

"You know all she was trying to do was help and believe me, I have known that woman for six years and she rarely offered to help anyone like she just offered to help you out. She could get away with charging you a few hundred euros alone for just looking at the engine and she was willing to do it and possibly fix it for nothing. I don't do this too often but I am going to agree with Toby, you are an ass. Things haven't a changed one bit with you over years." said Walter who was starting to walk off when his phone rang.

"Hello."

"Walter!"

"Dad? Is everything ok? You sound like something is wrong?"

Catching the attention from the rest of the team, everyone walked over to Walter to try to figure out what was going on. Toby automatically began reading Walter's facial expressions and started pointing out every little thing and making the correct assumption that something was terribly wrong at Walter's house.

"Mrs. McGinty, I hope you don't mind but could you possibly finish cleaning up the mess that we made. It is almost finish and from the look on Walter's face who is about to go into emotional overload here, we are needing to leave now."

"No, I don't mind. I'll take care of it. As a matter of fact, Kerwin can take care of it for his rudeness that he just showed." said Mrs. McGinty who was looking directly at Kerwin with raised eyebrows daring him to challenge her.

Hanging up his phone. "Guys we need to go, Happy you are driving but don't try to attract the attention of any Garda in the process because I''m not entirely sure what is going on or who we can trust at this point."

"Can you tell us anything?"

Suddenly looking at Ralph and feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders, "Ralph can you go in the back and double check to make sure we have everything. Please."

"No. I want to know what is going on." protested Ralph.

"Ralph, please do as I asked." requested Walter.

Recognizing the look of a worried parent in Walter's eyes, Mrs. McGinty stepped in, "Lets go double check to make sure, shall we. We might find something that you may have left after all."

Reluctantly, Ralph turned and went back into the kitchen area of the restaurant. Even though he wanted to stay and protest some more he also understood that time was of the essence and Walter would share with him soon enough.

After watching Mrs. McGinty walk Ralph to the back, "Guys, Cabe Ian and Dad came across some trouble while in the barn. Needless to say, Paige walked in on it as well. She unknowingly walked in the barn while three strangers were in there. One of them claimed to be Garda and managed to get the one with the gun pointed in Paige's face to let her walk out unharmed but after he left, the other two decided to go up to the house and take Paige and my Mother at gunpoint. We need to go."

"Don't you think you need to call the Garda about this?" suggested Kerwin.

Forgetting about Kerwin being there, "They are already aware of it. In more ways than one."

"What about Ralph, are you going to leave him here with Mrs. McGinty?" asked Sylvester.

"No. I am bringing him with us. We are going to need him. Toby do you have your medical bag with you?"

"No. It is back at the hotel."

"Go and get it and meet me at my place."

Toby immediately left the restaurant leaving his hat behind and almost running into the tow truck driver on the way out the door.

"Anyone here waiting for a tow truck?" asked the Tow Truck Driver.

"That would be me. You sure got hear fast." said Kerwin.

"Yea, I was only a couple of streets down." said the Tow Truck Driver.

Turning to Walter, "Walter, are you sure the Garda is aware of all of this, don't you think you should call them yourself to make sure?"

Frustrated by the whole situation, Walter lashed out at Kerwin. "Kerwin, exactly why do you care all of a sudden. We got this handled. Go back to work and worry about yourself, that is what you're an expert at isn't it?"

Leaving Kerwin standing at the bar shocked at how Walter basically threw years of bullying him right back in his face with a few simple words, Kerwin left the restaurant and went back to work actually feeling hurt by Walter's words. He will call Mrs. McGinty later to get Walter's address. He really needed to talk to Walter.

Getting back to his office, Kerwin was called into the Manger's office, "Yes, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes. The mechanic is looking over the truck trying to figure out what is wrong with it. We are running kind of slow today and we do not have another truck available at this point so why don't you just take the rest of the day off. As you can see everyone is pretty much standing around doing nothing as it is and I am getting ready to send a few select people home anyway or take volunteers at this point. So, I am giving you the first choice of taking the rest of the day off or sit around here and I will find something for everyone to do?"

"Sir, I can take the rest of the day off. Something came up while I was waiting on the tow truck to arrive at McGinty's and I would really like to help out this person. Maybe make amends for a few wrongs that I have done to him when we were children."

"Ok. Keep it safe, stay out of jail and have a good rest of your day."

"Thank you, sir."

After leaving his manager's office, Kerwin all but ran back to his car and drove back to McGinty's hoping that Mrs. McGinty was still there and hopefully have Walter's home address.

Toby practically ran to his room at the hotel to grab his medical bag and then he realized he had left his hat at McGinty's. Knowing that time was crucial, Toby opted to go back there and retrieve it anyway. His gut instincts was telling him to go back and get it. As soon as Toby grabbed his medical bag he jumped into the car and drove back to McGinty's as quickly as he could without being stopped by the local police.

Arriving back at McGinty's Restaurant, Kerwin jumped out of his car barely taking the time to close the door and ran into the restaurant hoping that Mrs. McGinty was still there. Luckily for him the door was open so he ran inside practically running Ruby over in the process. "So sorry Ruby, Mrs. McGinty, do you know Walter's address."

"No, I do not. I could try to call him and find out for you if need be."

"Could you please, I really would like to help him if he would let me."

"After all of the grief that you caused that boy throughout your childhood, do you think he would except it?"

"I don't know. I doubt it?"

"I can call and try to get the address but the rest is up to you."

Finally arriving back at McGinty's, Toby got out of his car and ran inside hoping to find the door still unlocked. Luckily for him it was so he ran inside, "Mrs. McGinty, where is my hat. I know I left it here when I was in a rush to leave earlier."

"Oh hi Toby, I thought you might be back to retrieve it. It is here behind the bar. Let me grab it for you."

Noticing Toby, "Toby is it?" ask Kerwin.

Accepting his hat from Mrs. McGinty, "Yes. What do you need Kerwin because I really do not have time to psychoanalyze your issues right now."

Looking at him a little weird, "I get that, I think, but I want to come with you to help if I could."

"I highly doubt it at this point."

"Look, I know I was an ass earlier but I would really like to help."

"Look I do not have time to argue with you on this so if you are coming then lets go."

Both men then raced out to their cars and left the premises on their way to Walter's house.

Arriving at his home, Walter all but jumped out of the car barely giving Happy time to stop the vehicle. As soon as the car was actually stopped Ralph was the second one to get out of the car with Sylvester and Happy directly behind him. While en route to Walter's house, Walter informed Ralph on what had happened with his mother and grandmother.

Entering the house first, Sean, Cabe, and Ian were inside after finally coaxing the two children from the barn and into the house where it was warmer.

"Dad, Cabe, Ian, what is going on and why did you two let them take Mom and Paige without doing anything to stop them? Did you even try to stop them?"  
"Sit down all of you. To answer your question, Walter. No. we didn't try to stop them but before you say anything hear me out. The reason we didn't try to stop them was because one, I don't doubt for a minute that those two would not have hesitated for a second to shoot Paige or your Mother right then and there before escaping. They gave me the impression that they were that cold-hearted. Second, there was also a chance that if they didn't shoot the two of them in the beginning then they would have possibly gotten caught in the crossfire along with these two here." said Cabe who moved to reveal Malachi and Sorcha.

Contemplating on what Cabe just told him and determining the validity behind it and not wanting to think of the consequences if Cabe was right about these two guys that took his Mother and Paige, Walter noticed the children for the first time. "Who's children are they and why were they in my barn?" ask Walter to no one in particular.

"We don't know. We just got them into the house and got them some food. They looked like they haven't eaten in a few days the way it is; so, we raided your fridge. Hope you don't mind." stated Ian.

"Walter, son, please say there is way to find your Mother and Paige in time."

Looking at his dad, "Do any of you know the make and model of vehicle that was use to take them?"

"Yes. Well sort of, I took a video the best that I could from my location up in the loft." said Ian.

"Good. Give it to Happy."

Just as Ian was about to show Happy the video that he took, Toby and Kerwin ran into the house.

"Ok, first thing first, who's hurt?" asked Toby.

Author's Note: The reason I had Paige go through the front door of the house was because she wasn't for sure if the men in the barn was watching her and she had told them that the house was still locked and no one was in the house thus trying to protect Louise.

Special Author's Note: After much coaxing from my Brother, Nephew, and especially my Boyfriend who has been after me to write a book since I began Runaway Walter, I have started writing an actual book. I have been working on it during my break at work so needless to say, I am still on Chapter 1 and no official title at this point. Afterwards, I need to find a way to get it publish and I have no idea on how or who to contact for this so in the meantime, wish me luck.


	20. Chapter 20

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

 **Author's Note: I am sorry it has taken me so long to post this chapter but it proved rather difficult to write. I re-wrote this chapter several times before I was happy with it. I am working on finishing up Survivor's and it will be posted soon. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. I felt like Walter needed this talk.**

Summary:

In the last chapter, Cabe, Ian, and Sean were checking out Walter's barn when they came across not only two children but also Darin and Peadar who was using Walter's barn as a storage location for their contraband along with Micheal O'Leary who is also a Garda. If that surprise wasn't enough Paige surprised the whole group by walking into the barn thus being surprised herself. Unknowingly, she walked in on the three bad guys instead of three good guys. After being allowed to walk back to the house, she had the intention of getting Louise and herself out of the house safely but as they were leaving they ran into Darin and Peadar. Unknowingly to Garda O'Leary, Darin and Peadar took Paige and Louise from the house by gunpoint and made them get into the truck and leave with them...

Chapter 20: Walter's Confessional

Everyone turned to look at Toby who had just entered the house with Kerwin right behind him. Walter just stood there looking at Toby in shock trying to process everything that has happen in the last six minutes.

"Walter? Bossman? You ok? Ok. Anyone. Aside from Paige and Louise being kidnapped, what else happened? Why did I need to go back to get my medical bag?" repeated Toby.

"As of right now no one is hurt that we know of but I think you need to check out these two right here." stated Cabe who stepped aside to reveal the children to Toby like he did Walter.

Noticing the children for the first time himself, Toby also went into shock. "Where did they come from?" asked Toby who was pointing at the children.

"They were hiding out in the barn." said Sean.

"They were not the only ones hiding in the barn." stated a peeved off Ian. He was still peeved at the fact the that he saw his fellow Garda and who he thought of as a friend, for some reason was helping the kidnappers instead of arresting them.

Out of the blue, Walter spoke up giving everyone their orders. "Toby check these two kids out and if need be take them to the hospital for a thorough examination but make sure it stays on the down low. For whatever reason they were hiding out in my barn, we don't want to accidentally bring it to the wrong people's attention. Happy, look over that video that Ian has of the truck and the men who took Paige and Mom. If possible, get a license plate number and any other information off of that truck and then hack into the DMV to see who it is registered too. Sly, as soon as Happy can get a couple of good pictures of the two men, you begin running facial recognition on them. Cabe and Ian, the two of you are going out to that barn and see if those two may have left anything behind to show what they were storing out there. Ralph, you come with me for a moment." After giving everyone their marching orders, Walter took Ralph on the other side of the livingroom.

As Walter began walking into the livingroom with Ralph, "Son, what do you want me to do? I just can't sit here knowing that the two women we love most in our lives are out there in danger. I just can't sit here on my hands and do nothing."

Looking at his father, "You might want to call Uncle Tobin and tell him what has happened, if nothing else go pick him up and bring him here to my house but for now there isn't much else you can do."

"What about me?" asked Kerwin.

Sounding annoyed. "Kerwin, why are you here? Aren't you suppose to be at work or something?"

"I'm here because I want to help and as far as work there wasn't much else to do besides stand around and look at each other all day so my boss started to send people home and since I was without a truck, I was one of the ones to be sent home. So, again, what do you want me do?"

"Like Dad, there isn't much you can do besides sit and wait."

Walking to the far side of the livingroom, Walter sat down on the steps so he can look Ralph in the eye better and began talking to him is a voice low enough for only Ralph to hear. "Ralph, I know you want to dive in and help too but at this point I need you to get close to that boy over there and get to know him a little better. You are more and likely to gain his trust quicker and get him to talk to us better about all the who's, what's, when's, where's, why's, and how's since you are closer to his age than we are. You stand a better chance than any of us at this point. So as soon as he gets checked out try to get something out of him. They may know who those people are and what they were hiding out in the barn."

"Ok. Dad...z Dad, I know that time is of the essence right now and since we have no idea who these men are or who they work for and why they even took Mom and Grandma but will I be able to help other than babysitting?"

Smiling, "Yes Ralph, if I need you for something other than "babysitting" I will let you know immediately, but for the time being I need you to get them to trust us. They need to believe that we won't hurt them and that they are safe with us. If they see you, as a child, trusting us and interacting with us as the adults, then maybe just maybe they will begin to trust us as well. That is where I need your help at the moment. But, I scoop-swear, if I need you for something else then I will put you on it. Ok."

"Ok, Dad. I'll do my best."

Patting Ralph on the back, "That's my boy."

Ralph turned and walked over to the table where the two children and Toby were sitting and Walter turned and went upstairs.

Walking into his bedroom, Walter suddenly found himself not being able to breath. All he wanted to do is sit down and cry and think to himself, "What if they are hurt somewhere and when we do find them will it be too late? What if those two drove so far and then decided to go ahead and shoot them and leave them, wherever they are, for dead? Could all of this actually have been prevented and if so, could I ever forgive Cabe and Ian who stood by and done nothing? I know the chances were high that they would have been killed on the spot but at least someone would have made the attempt to save them but as it is they stood by and did nothing." Having trouble focusing on the situation at hand, Walter looked around the bedroom and remembered the night that he and Paige made love in that room. Suddenly, Walter decided he needed some air and needed to leave. For some reason, he felt the need to visit Megan's grave so he pulled himself together enough to go downstairs and leave for the cemetery.

Approaching the table and placing his medical bag on the floor beside the table and sitting down, "Hi. My name is Dr. Tobias Curtis but you two can call be Toby."

Both children nodded at Toby and just stared at him.

"Ok. Can you tell me your names?"

"My name is Malachi and this is Sorcha." stated Malachi.

"Ok. Good. How old are you Malachi?"

"Ten."

"Sorcha, can you tell me how old you are?"

Looking at Malachi, Sorcha just kind of leaned into the back of her chair not sure if she should answer or not.

"Being bashful and shy, huh. You know, by looking at you, you are really not that shy of a person after you get to know someone. I bet you can talk someone's ear off a mile a minute once you get started."

Sorcha still didn't respond to Toby. She just sat in her chair and slid down a little like she was trying to hide under the table.

"Would it be ok if Malachi answered your question for you?"

Sorcha just looked at Toby and nodded her head.

"Malachi, do you know how old Sorcha is?"

"Four, I think."

"Can she talk?"

"Yes. I'm guessing she just doesn't want too right now."

"Ok. Are either of you two hurt anywhere as far as any cuts or scraps that needs tending too?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure."

"Do you mind if I take a look at both of you to be sure. We don't want any kind of infection to set in which will make things worse than they are now?

In the mean time, Ralph came over and sat down in the only chair available. Looking at Malachi and Sorcha, "It's ok. You can trust him. He has treated me a couple of times when I had gotten sick as well as the rest of the team when they have gotten hurt out in the field."

Looking at Sorcha, Malachi decided it would be for the best."

"Ok. So long at you don't hurt us."

"I won't, at least not intentionally. I may accidentally find a bruise that may still be painful though but like I said it won't be intentional."

About five minutes later, Walter walked back downstairs and into the eating area of the kitchen where Toby was examining the two children. "I am going out to get some air. I will be back as soon as I can. Do these two need any extra medical care that you can't take care of here."

"I just started examining Sorcha here but I can tell you they both are a little malnourished."

"There is food in the fridge, fix them whatever they want." Handing Toby a piece of paper, "Here is my number. I wrote it down since not everyone around here has a photographic memory. I will also have my com on me if need be."

"Ok." Toby looked up from the paper that was handed to him, "Hey Walt, you ok?"

"I'm not sure at this point. I just need some air all of a sudden."

"Ok. That is about what I am reading but you look like you are about to hyperventilate on me here."

Letting out a heavy sigh, "I will be alright. Like I said I just need some air. I promise I will be back."

"Scoop swear." Ralph said out of the blue.

Smiling, "Yes, Ralph. Scoop swear. As a matter of fact I will make it a do quadruple scoop swear."

"Oh, we are upping the stakes aren't we." commented Toby who was watching Ralph who was letting a big grin take over his face.

"I have a suggestion. How about just taking them to the hospital?" asked Kerwin.

"Right now, I would like to keep their whereabouts unknown as long as possible until we know what is going on with these two. They ran away from their current situation for a reason and I would very much like to keep the bad guys in the dark about these two as well as keeping them safe. It also doesn't help that I do not know who to trust at the hospital at this point." stated Walter.

"I have an uncle who is a pediatrician at the hospital. I can call him and tell him that there are a couple of children that needs to be seen in secret."

"Will he be able to keep them completely off the radar for now?"

"I'm sure he can if I ask him too but he will probable want some information so he knows what he is looking for."

Thinking about what Kerwin just offered, Walter looked over at Toby, "What do you think Toby?"

"He seems to be telling the truth. I say make the call. It might be a good idea to go ahead and have them examine inside and out but they need to be completely off the radar and I would also like to see all medical reports on these two."

'Ok. Call him but Kerwin, you screw us over on this (pointing at the children sitting at the table) and any of these kids get hurt, IT WILL BE HELL TO PAY AFTERWARDS. I WILL MAKE SURE OF IT." said Walter who turned and walked out the front door.

Feeling like a fish out of water, Kerwin suddenly started wondering if this is what Walter felt like all those years ago when he intimidated and bullied him at school.

Arriving at Megan's grave site, Walter just stood there looking at Megan's grave stone not sure on what he should do. He isn't even sure why he came here or what he should do next since he knows she isn't even buried there and that her remains are floating somewhere around in space.

"Why am I even here? Its not like she is going to talk back to me." said Walter to himself thinking he was alone.

"Megan doesn't have to be here physically to hear what you have to say. She can you hear from heaven just the same."

Jumping at the sound of another person's voice, "Father Flynn! You startled me. I didn't notice you were close by."

Chuckling a little, "Sorry Walter. I didn't mean to startle you. I just happened to be walking by when I heard you make that statement. Now if you want to talk, you can talk to me if you like."

"I'm not sure where to start. This whole year seemed like it has been a complete mess and the last few hours has been a complete nightmare."

Walking over to a nearby bench and taking a seat and motioning for Walter to sit down by him. Father Flynn wasn't sure where this conversation with Walter was going to go considering he remembered the child he use to be so long ago but he felt he should at least try to help him because clearly something was bothering Walter a great deal.

"Walter, first I just want to say that everything in life happens for a reason. Even though we may not know what that reason is at the time, the Lord up above knows what he is doing and why you are chosen to do things for him even if you are not aware of it. So, Walter, if you don't mind, may I ask you a few questions? That is if you want to talk."

Shrugging his shoulders, Walter walked over and took a seat next to Father Flynn. "Sure. What do you want to know and I will try to answer your questions as best as I can?"

"That is all I can ask of you. Lets start at the beginning, shall we."

"Ok."

"Obviously your sudden appearance here this week tells me this trip wasn't a planned trip was it?"

"No. It was a spur of the moment type thing."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you are here but you never showed any interest in visiting before this. As I recall, it took a lot of coaxing to get you to come here for Megan's Patterns Day. So, why the sudden urge to be here now."

"I guess I came here to get away from some things and some people. Well my team actually. Especially Paige. I was trying to give myself some space so-to-speak."

"Don't you think coming on the other side of the world was a bit extreme to give yourself some space? Most people stay home and not answer their phones to give themselves some space from people they don't want to talk too."

"Maybe, I don't know. I just knew I couldn't stay home since my apartment is above the office where everyone works so I didn't think I would get that much space. Then again, Paige would have been the only one who would have avoided me anyway at the time."

"I guess that would be understandable but why do you think you chose to come back home to Ireland? Like I said before, and please don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're here. Just so you know, I've noticed a change in both of your parents lately. It seems like they are happier than I have seen them in a long time."

"Honestly, I don't know what made me come here all of a sudden. After getting through airport security, I sat there at the airport for a while asking myself the same question. I almost got back on a plane and left the same day I got here but something told me to stay and try to reconnect with my parents and decide whether or not to continue with Scorpion."

"What is Scorpion?"

"Scorpion is the name of my company or so I thought it was my company. At the time I left, I felt like I was losing that along with everything else."

"What exactly does your company do?"

"Well, between myself, Sylvester, Toby, Happy and Ralph, are all geniuses. You could say we each have our own specialty. Mine specialty, as you know, is computers. Sylvester's specialty is mathematical equations and statistical theories. Toby's specialty is human behavior and medicine. Happy's specialty is mechanical. Ralph, he is still acquiring his own specialty He is still learning but he knows computers as well as I do if not better. The team says he is the miniature version of me. Even though Paige and Cabe aren't geniuses, they both have their own specialties. Paige's specialty is helping us dealing with normal people and understanding emotions. Cabe is a Homeland Agent and is our government handler. He gets us through some security checkpoints quicker as well helps gets us out of trouble if necessary which is quite often at times."

"What about Tim? Where does he fit in all of this?"

"He is a Homeland Security Agent too. He suppose to be a trainee but he gets in the way more than anything and had brought nothing but chaos to my team. Ever since he was assigned to us, the whole team's dynamic changed. Then when he was officially discharged from the Navy, HE decided not ME, HE decided to join my team. There was no consulting me over it, it was a said and done deal. Everyone else just seemed to except it and move on. There was no questioning his motives no one said anything he was just there. Come to think of it, he said at the beginning that he chose Scorpion as his assignment from Homeland and still no one asked why. Not even me. I just figured he was going to be there a short time as a trainee not become a permanent fixture. I know I'm sounding petty and jealous but Scorpion was and is still MY company not his. So, who is he to say whether or not he could just join my team without talking it over with me first."

Putting his hands up, "Walter, I am not the enemy here."

Not realizing his change in attitude towards the priest as well as the tone of his voice, Walter calmed down rather quickly. "Sorry Father Flynn. I wasn't trying to take anything out on you."

"That's ok son but I do see your point. He should have consulted you first and take into consideration that Scorpion was your company and not his nor Homeland Security's property to make decisions like that on his own. Did he consult anyone at all about his transition?"

"Yes, Paige but that was as far as it went. The decision was made between them while in each other arms while out in the field. Neither one of them talk with me about any of it."

Feeling the need to change the subject, "I'm going to shift the subject a bit, getting back to your relationship with your parents. You said that your relationship has improved with them, how so?"

"It was rocky at first but things have gotten better especially between my father and me. Since we know we can't change the past we decided to move forward and we are now able to have conversations without yelling at each other with in three minutes after the conversation begins."

"That is good to hear. Now you said you came here to get away from everyone especially Paige. Why? Why did you want to get away from her so bad at the time?"

"There was an incident that happened out in the field and I ended up losing a portion of my memory because of it and when I remembered I realized that things were said between us and then I realized that she lied to me and did some things which made the whole entire situation worse and I just didn't want to see her the next day or any other day after that. I thought if I left it would be easier for me to deal with the things on my own."

"Couldn't you have just talked to her about it?"

"No. Not at that time. We have all but stop talking to each other."

"Why was that? What happen that was so bad that you two stop talking to each other?"

Thinking back over the last three years, Walter knew a lot of it was his fault. At first, Walter wasn't for sure how to answer that question but once he started talking everything started coming out. "I know lot of it was my fault I guess. We have been through a lot over the last three years. One of things that I had trouble with was admitting my feelings for her as well as to her. I always thought love was junk science and didn't exist but all of that changed after I met Paige. The things that I thought that didn't matter seems to matter more than ever like for instance art. What I thought was just paint and canvas seemed to take a whole new meaning after meeting Paige because she looked at it differently. We once had a case where we had to set up security for an art museum and one particular piece that just happened to be Paige's favorite painting also just happened to be stolen and a fake placed in its place. Even though we, and I am referring to Sylvester, Toby and Happy and especially myself, didn't understand art we, for some reason, chose to help the owners try to get it back. We manage to get the bad guys arrested at the end but art seemed to take a different meaning after that. Then when Paige decided to go back to school she was studying Liberal Arts and I told her that there were only Science and Math and Math and Science and because of her knowledge of the countries that were involved in a case we were assigned too, she managed to outshine a diplomatic envoy who was suppose to be assisting with treaty negotiations between a group of small countries. All of her hard work paid off and her abilities to relate to people and understand them on a different level is astonishing to say the least. But when it came to our personal feeling for each other we were both at a lost. I was afraid of risking Scorpion because if things failed between us personally then Scorpion was sure to follow and we both tried to put those feelings aside but to say the least that didn't always work. I tried to date other women but I just couldn't connect with them like I can Paige. I was always able to talk to her about anything and I guess, no I know I did. I pushed her away too many times and eventually she started dating someone else which was Tim. But after I remembered the rocket incident then that was when everything happened. I just couldn't ignore the fact that I confessed my true feelings for her and told her that I was in love with her and how it hurt to see her choose Tim over me and yet she still said those words back to me like it was nothing. I felt as though she lied to me when she continued to date Tim and then blamed me for Tim's decision to take a job that was going to relocate him in Jordan along with everything else she wanted to blame me for. I tried telling her long before the rocket incident that I was in love with her but she didn't want to listen to me then and then everyone else around me told me I shouldn't say anything at all and to let her move on with Tim and find someone else in my life. I know its my fault that I pushed her towards Tim and gave them tickets to a Jazz Festival and then sabotaged the whole thing because that was when I realized that I was in love with Paige and I was trying to call her to tell her but she wasn't picking up her phone and then I was too late when I arrived in Tahoe anyway. But all in all she didn't have to lie to me like that. As a matter of fact the whole team was aware of it I'm sure.

"Have you tried talking to your team about the situation? I think if you sit down and talk with them about everything you may be able to save your friendship and Scorpion all at the same time. I also think if you sat down with Paige and talked to her privately things could be fixed between the two of you. You need to think about your adopted son after all and how this may affect him in the long run."

"He is one of the reasons why the whole team is here in the first place. When I left I told no one that I was leaving or where I went. I just left them all notes on how I felt betrayed by each and every one of them and I left. I also told them that I was not sure if I was going to continue Scorpion when I got back and I didn't know when I was going to be back or anything. I left my phone, car everything I didn't need and called an Uber and left for the airport. I didn't even have the driver pick me up in front of the garage because of our security cameras. I didn't want them to follow me and if they did then they were going to have to work at it. The only person I made any attempt to contact and keep in contact with was Ralph because none of this had anything to do with him and I didn't want him to think I abandoned him like his biological father had so long ago. He would be the only reason I would have gone back to LA for at the time."

"So basically, your whole team dropped everything they were working on and began looking for you and then hopped on a plane to come here to bring you back home."

"Something like that I guess but Ralph found me first and somehow talked his biological father and his maternal grandmother into accompanying him here to Ireland and did not say a word to his mother that he was leaving but instead left a note on a table saying they found me and left for Ireland."

Shocked at what he just heard, "He was rather resourceful. How did he manage to get both of them to pay for a trip out of the blue to come to Ireland? Not that it is any of my business but a plane ticket at this time of year isn't cheap."

"Since Ralph is only twelve years old, I can't exactly give him an actual paycheck for the work he helps out with so I opened a bank account for him and use it like a trust fund account. The only difference is is that he can get a monthly allowance out of it up to a certain dollar amount since he goes to college and it is mainly used to help with the cost of his books and spending money. Needless to say he had money saved up in that account since most of his expense are paid by Paige and at the time she wasn't aware of the account although she may be aware of it now, I didn't want her to know I was helping to pay for Ralph's college expenses."

"Wow. In other words that child is set for life when he gets out on his own. Doesn't his biological father help with any of the expenses as far as school? Wait a second you did say college right? You also said he was twelve as well. Not to embarrass you but I am going to have to agree with your team on something. He is a lot like you. Are you sure he isn't your son? Is his biological father a genius too?"

"Yes, Ralph is set for when he becomes an adult and Paige has struggled so much over the years trying to raise Ralph by herself and during a time when she was told he was developmentally delayed and mentally challenged. She struggled working two or three jobs trying to make ends meet and keep a roof over their heads. After I hired her I just couldn't stand by and do nothing so I opened accounts for them in case of an emergency and for Ralph's schooling so she wouldn't have to struggle so much and personally I don't want her to struggle at all. As far as his father is concern, I don't think is helping at all as far as his college tuition. Then again, he was absent from their lives for seven years without so much as a phone call much less any extra money and he definitely is no genius. Yes. I did say Ralph was in college and he twelve-years-old and I will claim him regardless if I was allowed to adopt him or not. He is my boy no matter what anyone says and I don't need a paternity test to tell me any differently"

"Why do you think the whole team showed up to bring you back?"

"I don't know. I initially thought it was because Ralph took off and Paige was coming here to get her son and leave but after Ralph showed up and surprised me the way he did, I made him call his mother to let her know that he was ok and that was when Paige all but yelled at me to sign the adoption papers because of Drew and Veronica's involvement in getting Ralph to Ireland, Drew and Veronica is Paige's Ex and Mother by the way."

"Have you and Paige talked at all on a personal level since she had been here?"

"Yes, the first night that she was here we talked well actually we yelled at each other for most of the night."

"Did you two get everything out of your system? Did you tell her why you left the way you did?"

"We got a lot out in the open and yes I told her why I left the way I did. That was when I found out that she had broken up with Tim and why and we did admit our feelings for each other. We also decided to try to have a relationship with each other and seek counseling when we get back to LA but now I'm not so sure."

"I will come back to your uncertainty in a moment but what about Ralph, how does he feel about the two of you trying to have a relationship even though you have been on rocky ground for most of the year?"

"He knows that I love his mother and want a relationship with her and he is for it but even though I would do anything for him and we can speak the same language, I'm scared that I won't be the parent that he needs me to be simply because I don't know how. You know the relationship I had with my father growing up. I guess my biggest fear is that Paige would see what a failure I could be at being a parent and she would up and take Ralph from me altogether."

"Why do you fear that?"

"Because she had tried it before in the past when Drew first showed back up and was trying to get her back. She was on the verge of moving to the state of Maine which is over three thousand miles away from LA after we had a big fight the night before she was suppose to get on a plane for Portland, Maine."

"What was the fight over?"

"Ralph."

"At this very moment do you really think she would try it again?"

"No, I guess not. Not after the conversation we had with Ralph as to why he ran off and came here the way he did. I think that may have changed her way of thinking on wanting to leave me again but we both know that all of our issues are far from being solved unless they are closer than I think."

"Ok. Lets go back to your uncertainty. You said something about seeking counseling when you got back to LA but yet you seemed uncertain about it, why?"

Not sure if he should reveal the kidnapping to the priest, Walter decided to go ahead and tell him since that was probably the reason he came to Megan's grave in the first place. "I don't know maybe that is the reason I came out here. Mom and Paige had gone to the grocery store and Dad, Cabe and Ian was at my place checking out the barn when they came upon something that was in my barn that wasn't suppose to be there. Unknowingly, Paige and Mom got back to the house and Paige walked out to the garage only to find some strangers there and at first she was allowed to go back into the house unharmed. After one of the three strangers left, the other two decided to go to the house where they found Paige and my Mother and took them both out of the house at gun point and we have no idea where they were taken. I have my team looking for them as we speak." Without realizing it at first, Walter had tears forming in his eye an in a choked voice, "For the first time I can ever remember, I am truly scared of losing them both. After I went upstairs and walked into the bedroom, I just couldn't breath and had to leave. It reminded me too much of Paige for some reason and I just...I actually don't know how to function without Paige in my life anymore and it scares me. Not to mention being scared at the thought of being a single parent to Ralph because of what happened today."

Shocked at what he just heard, Father Flynn felt the true reason he was at Megan's grave had just been revealed. In a shocked voiced, "Walter, besides your team have you notified the Garda?"

"Yes and no. Ian is with the Garda but he was suspended for a trumped up allegation. I am not sure at this point if he has contacted his Captain but another member of the force is somewhat aware of what is going on. I'm sorry Father but I really can't get into details at this point. Dad was there when if all took place and for the same reasons I can't get into at this time, no one was able to do anything to stop it considering that the two men who took Mom and Paige didn't know they had witnesses and there was a possible chance of Mom and Paige being shot in the process of stopping them. We got some information on the truck which we are trying to find out more but we are still at the beginning stages of the investigation. So like I said, I can't reveal any more than that."

"Walter, I am sorry for everything that has happened in the last few hours and I will pray for their safe return. Is there anything I can do to help at this point besides pray?"

Smiling and thinking of Paige, "Just pray. Paige always seems to pray when things seemed dire and yet we are still here. Dad may need you though as well as Uncle Tobin."

"Ok, I will go to them. Do you know where they are?"

"If they are not at the farm then they would be back at my place."

"Ok. Give me the address to your place and I will check the farm first. If no one is there then I will go to your place afterwards."

"Ok. Thank you Father Flynn. For everything especially listening. Some of the things I was feeling seem so petty now and all I want is Paige and Mom back safe. That is all that seems to matter at this point."

"As well as it should be. Sometimes the things that seem so big are not as big as you think they are at the time until something puts them into perspective." Getting up and placing a hand on Walter's shoulder, "Walter, is there anything you need from me before I leave to go find your father and uncle."

No, Father Flynn. I just need some time alone with my sister. Thanks again."

"Your welcome Walter and I understand. Oh and Walter, after your Mother and Paige are found safe there is one thing I would like to know."

"What is that?"

"How did you meet Paige in the first place?

Not helping the big goofy grin forming on his face, "That is a story all by itself and I will be sure to tell you before we leave."

Smiling, "I'm looking forward to it." Turning and walking towards his car, Father Flynn couldn't help but think that was the first time he had ever seen that genuine of a smile on his face that actually reached his eyes which led to another thought all its own, "That boy must really be in love with her." Praying to himself, "Lord please keep them safe until they are safe and sound with their loved ones where they belong."

As Father Flynn arrived at his car, he noticed Sean pulling into the parking lot, "I was just coming to find you and Tobin. Walter just told me about what happen with Louise and Paige."

"Is he still here?" asked Sylvester.

"Yes, he is. He wanted a moment at Megan's grave. How is everyone holding up?"

"In a word Father Flynn, stressed?" said Sean

"I can only imagine."

"Sylvester, go on ahead and visit Megan's grave site I can wait here until you are finished." said Sean.

"No, Sean. You can go ahead. I can get a ride back to the house with Walter. I would like to talk to him in private anyway. That is if you don't mind?"

"No, no Sylvester, I don't mind at all. I will see you back at Walter's house then."

"Ok thanks for bringing me here."

"Sure thing Sylvester."

Sylvester walked away from the car hoping Walter would be willing to listen to what was on his mind considering he was going to tell Megan anyway. Now was as good as time ever.


	21. Chapter 21

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

 **Special Aurthor's Note: Thank you for everyone's condolences for the sudden lost of my boyfriends mother. Unfornuately, I am also down with my bad shoulder bothering me again and this time around it is worse than the last time. Good news for you I can concentrate on finishing this storyline. Please enjoy the read. Thank you.**

Summary:

After learning of Paige's and Louise's kidnapping on top of finding out that two children have been hiding out in his barn, Walter was suddenly in need of some air. After leaving the house he found himself at Megan's grave site. While standing there trying to figure out why he was there, Father Flynn approached Walter and began talking to him. Before Walter knew it, he was confessing everything to Father Flynn as far as why he left LA and came back to Ireland and why he thought about giving up Scorpion altogether.

Chapter 21: Rebuilding Bridges—Sylvester

About ten minutes after Walter left the house, Toby and Kerwin left to take both Sorcha and Malachi to meet with Kerwin's Uncle Craig at the hospital. Happy and Sylvester stayed behind and were trying to use the video that Ian had gotten with his phone which wasn't the best quality.

"Its going to be difficult to get any decent picture of either men since they never looked up and the angle of which the video was taken doesn't help." stated Sylvester.

"I know. Even the license plate number isn't complete but a partial is better than nothing. I know they were trying to hide and all but this video sucks." said Happy.

"What about upgrading our facial recognition software to take into account for any distortions and instead of using just front facial recognition we can also add profile recognition. I'm sure it could be possible if we tell the program to look for it." said Ralph.

"That's sounds like a great idea Ralph."

Walking over to the kitchen table, "Since it doesn't look like I'm needed here, I'm going to go pick up Tobin and bring him here. I still need to tell him about Louise and I don't want to do that over the phone." said Sean.

"Understandable." said Happy.

"If you don't mind can I come along. I need to talk to you about something personal and also, I would like it if you could drop me off at Megan's grave on your way to pick up Uncle Tobin."

"Yea, sure thing Sylvester but aren't you needed here?"

"No, I don't think so. Ralph and Happy can upgrade the software without me unless the two of you do need me here?"

"No. I'm good." said Ralph.

"Me too." said Happy.

"Ok, then." Turning back to Sean. "I guess I'm ready."

Leaving the house, Sean and Sylvester got about a half a mile down the road when Sylvester broke the silence.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure Sylvester, you can ask me anything."

"Did you really get mad at Walter when you found out that Megan and I got married?"

Looking a little downhearted and ashamed, "Yes, Sylvester. I did."

"Why?"

"Honestly, I don't know why I got mad at Walter. Even after the two of you had told me that Walter didn't even know about it at the time, I just took my anger out on him anyway. I guess he was an easy target at the time. Looking back, I shouldn't have never done that. When this whole mess is over, I'm going to talk to Walter about that day and apologize for it if I don't do it beforehand."

"I think you should too. For the record, you should have gotten mad at Megan and myself, never Walter. Yes. I did and still do love Megan but we had our own reasons for getting married like we did but regardless if Walter knew about it or not it was never his fault for the decisions we made to hide it from everyone."

"Ok. Since we are on this subject, why did you marry Megan in the first place? I know it wasn't for money."

"Your right, it wasn't for money and you know she wasn't pregnant but the reasons behind it is personal. Walter knows of course but I'm just going to say its personal for Megan, myself, and Walter. Now, if and when you do talk to Walter about this and if he wants to tell you he can. I don't have a problem with you knowing its just surrounds some decisions that the three of us couldn't quite agree on is all."

"Ok. Fair enough. For what its worth Sylvester, I am sorry for getting mad at Walter over Yours and Megan's marriage. I never meant to cause a rift between the two of you. I never meant for that to happen."

"It was one of the things that Walter mentioned in his note to me is why I was asking in the first place among several other things that he mentioned that I still need to clear the air with him over."

Nodding his head, "Oh. Ok."

The rest of the trip to the cemetery was done in a comfortable silence.

Arriving at the cemetery, Sean and Sylvester was approached by Father Flynn.

"I was just coming to look for you and Tobin but I see Tobin isn't with you at this time. Does he know about Louise and Paige?"

Getting out of the car and standing by it looking over the top of the car, "No, not yet Father Flynn. I was just dropping off Sylvester because he was wanting to visit Megan's grave and I was going to come back to get him after I picked up Tobin and take them both back to Walter's place and go from there." said Sean.

"Speaking of Walter, is he still here?" ask Sylvester.

"Yes, as a matter of fact he is. I just left him by Megan's grave." said Father Flynn.

Turning to Sean, "If you don't mind, I think I will catch a ride with Walter back to his place. I need to talk to him."

"Ok Sylvester. Well then, if either of you two gentlemen don't mind I need to leave and go pick Tobin up." said Sean.

"Ok. I already have Walter's address so I will just meet everyone there." said Father Flynn.

Soon after goodbyes were made, Sean left the cemetery to pick up Tobin and Father Flynn left to go run a few errands and then go find Walter's house.

Walking up to Megan's grave Sylvester spotted Walter sitting on the bench staring at her gravestone. He started remembering Megan's Pattern's Day Celebration and how he was received by the O'Brien family verses how Walter was received. Thinking back, Sylvester remembered being greeted by warm smiles and lots of hugs and was waited on hand and foot. Walter on the other hand barely got a handshake and was antagonized by his childhood bullies and distrusted by his own parents when Walter tried to warn everyone about the lake that was about to explode. Stopping himself from going any further, Sylvester realized how much truth was really in Walter's note that was left for him a few days earlier. He couldn't believe that he actually did just what Walter had said nor had he realized what he had done. What would Megan think of him now for treating her brother, HER BABY BROTHER whom she adored so much, the way he did. He felt so ashamed of himself and thinking to himself he needed to feel shammed for not sticking up for Walter better that day.

Sylvester also realized he has hardly said anything to Walter since he has been here in Ireland. He also knew that if he wanted things to go back to the way they were he'd have to be the one to apologize first and now would be as good as time as any. He also decided to apologize to Megan while he was here for the way he had treated her baby brother.

Letting out a big sigh, Sylvester began walking up to the grave site. "Hey Walter."

Looking up, Walter was a little surprised that Sylvester had found him at Megan's grave considering he didn't tell anyone where he was going. Walter was beginning to think he had some kind of tracking device on him. "Hi Sylvester. Is there any news on the truck and the two men who took Mom and Paige?"

"No. Ian's video footage wasn't all that great considering if came from the loft but the angle he took of the kidnappers isn't the best either since he was trying to hide while taking it. Happy and Ralph are working on upgrading our facial recognition program so we can have a better chance on identifying the two guys who took them. Sean was getting ready to leave so I thought I would come and visit Megan's grave while Happy and Ralph upgraded the software ."

"Oh. Do you want me to leave?"

"No. If you don't mind or don't really need to leave yourself at this point, I would really like to talk to you."

"Ok. What about?"

"I want to apologized for my role in your leaving. I'm sorry for hiding the fact that I have kept in touch with your parents behind your back and already knowing your family before Megan's Pattern's Day Celebration. I'm also sorry for getting a better reception by your family than you did that day. I'm sorry for everything basically with the exception of one thing and that one thing is I'm not sorry for falling in love and marrying Megan."

Looking over at Megan's grave, Walter wasn't for sure on what to say at this point. He wanted to accept the apology and he knew he should but somehow it just didn't seem that easy. He felt betrayed and not just for marrying his sister but for everything else and he definitely wished Paige was there to tell him the best way to react to his situation. Walter decided to wing it since he had no idea on what else to do.

"For what I am about to say, just know I am not out to hurt your feelings by no means so if it comes out blunt and straight forward don't get upset just bare with me here. For starters, I don't know if I can or how to go about doing that. When I found out that you have been keeping in touch with my parents I felt so betrayed and left out that it was like I was replaced by you by them. It felt like my parents actually found the son they wanted and it wasn't me."

Sitting down next to Walter and looking at the ground in shame, "Walter, I never meant for that to happened. You have to believe me. When I first met your parents I got the impression that neither one of them liked me especially your Father. I also didn't know that you have sent him a condensation catcher either. He never said anything about it. I'm sorry that your Dad gave me the credit for what you did. He should never have done that."

"Well, he did.

"As for my Skype sessions, I guess I kept the sessions a secret because you never seemed to get along with your parents and you never seemed interested in trying to get along with them. I didn't know you wanted to try or needed help to connect with them."

"You never asked either."

"No, I didn't and I realize that now and I will take the blame for that. I guess I never brought it up either because I was worried how you may take it and ask me to stop. On the other hand I should have invited you over to join me when I did contact your parents but then again I never gave you the chance to decide either way."

"No, you didn't. I just wished you have given me a chance to make that decision but I do understand as to why you hid all of that from me of which still hurts that you couldn't talk to me about it."

"I know and I am truly, truly sorry Walter. Just tell me how I can make all of this better."

"Honestly, I don't know at this point. Besides its not just Megan or my parents or even you knowing my whole side of the family that I was upset with you over. Yes, it hurt when I found out the hard way I might add but I guess I was hoping not feeling so alone when we showed up for Megan's Pattern's Day Celebration. I also thought I had gotten over all of that nonsense from Tomas and Connor from when we were kids but I guess I didn't and it was still pent up inside and the whole Tim thing brought everything to the surface. I felt like I lost everything to him. It felt like the team no longer trusted me nor did it felt like I was wanted around anymore. Paige all but abandoned me and acted like I didn't matter anymore. I was alone Sylvester and no one seemed to care."

"I'm sorry if I made you feel that way Walter. I don't know about the rest of the team but I did try to bring everyone back to being a family but I guess whatever happened between you and Paige wasn't something that could've been fixed with food and sharing a meal as a family."

"That was one of the things I felt like Tim stole from me and that WAS my family. No matter what, I was ALWAYS at Fault and Tim was ALWAYS Right. Especially in Paige's eyes."

Looking at Megan's gravestone, "Have you mentioned any of this to Paige?"

"Yes. The night everyone arrived here in Ireland. We decided to seek counseling when we get back to LA."

"That's good. Does that mean you're not giving up Scorpion and shutting it down completely?"

"I don't know at this point. I still feel like I'm not really wanted back. I mean it all seems to me that everyone held me accountable for Tim's leaving in the first place and Ralph getting kidnapped among other things. I figured if I left no one would have missed me and some of you guys would actually be glad that I did leave. Maybe it would have been better off if I just took the deportation and a lot of this grief could have been avoided. For example I would have never married Happy then she wouldn't have turned down Toby's proposal in the first place. Since I apparently ruined both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, if I had left six years ago then both of your holidays would have turned out a lot better."

Thinking about what was just said, "For starter, you have impacted so many lives for the better over the last two and a half years that I actually lost track of the number. If it wasn't for you and Scorpion as a whole where would this world be at today if you left six years ago. Never mind about the team. If it wasn't for you, Happy would still be paying someone to stand in for her to enter contest on her behalf and who knows what else. Toby would have been beaten to death because of his gambling problem, Paige would still be working two or three jobs trying to keep a roof over her and Ralph's head and she would have never known that Ralph is a genius and he would still be so withdrawn that he probably still wouldn't be speaking to anyone today and as for me we both know how that would have ended because you and I both know what I was planning on doing in that hotel room that you found me in that day you came knocking as a bank security's officer. So come down to it, you are a hero not just to this team and to Ralph, and especially to me but regardless of what we think, you are also a hero to the world even if they don't know it.

Now, what I can tell you definitely is that as soon as we realized you were gone and read the notes that you left for us we immediately started searching for you. Paige called everyone she could think of that you would have or may have reached out too including Linda and Elia. The only time we stopped was to have Christmas Dinner which was for Ralph's benefit. Then he had to be coaxed him out of his room and he refused to open any gifts until you were found and brought back home. Then after dinner was over we went straight back to work looking for you and yes we contacted your parents as you can guess we got an earful from both of them."

Walter didn't know what else to do or say besides one thing. Turning towards Sylvester, "Thank you Sly. I needed to hear that. What about Tim, did he at least make the attempt to help?"

"No, not really. He basically said you were off somewhere throwing a tantrum and would come back eventually. I think it kind of made Paige mad when he said that."

"That was about what Paige said the first night when you guys showed up and we left you guys at McGinty's. I'm pretty sure it was mentioned when we were yelling at each other that night." Shaking his head and suddenly thinking of Paige, Walter was on the verge of tears and in a choked voice, "Sly, I don't know how to function without her anymore. I can't bare the thought that I might actually lose her and there is nothing I can do about it."

"We will find her and Mom. They are a part of Everyone and Scorpion saves everyone. Remember Paige said it the day we met her and somehow that became our motto. Scorpion. Saves. Everyone."

Smiling and nodding his head, "Yea your right. Why don't we put all of this pettiest behind us and move forward as brothers. We have two very important people to find that we love who are missing. How about we go and find them."

"Sounds like a plan."

Getting up from the bench and walking over and touching Megan's grave and taking a moment, both geniuses began walking back to Walter's car. As they were walking back, Sylvester began telling Walter that Sean had dropped him off and was on his way to pick up Uncle Tobin and was going to take him back to Walter's house. Sylvester also thought about talking to Walter about the questions he had about Tim and wanted to know his thoughts on why Tim chose Scorpion as his Homeland assignment as well as several other questions regarding Tim but decided it could wait until later. Getting in the car, both geniuses left the cemetery as brothers once again.


	22. Chapter 22

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show are put in this story throughout.**

 **Author's Note: I apologized for taking so long to post this chapter. I am finally past the shoulder and neck pain for now and the writer's block. I may be another hiatus soon due to surgery to fix my neck and shoulder problem but it won't be as long. Please enjoy this chapter and the next is soon to follow. I am currently writing on Chapter 24. Again, please enjoy.**

Summary:

In the last chapter, Sylvester asked Sean if he would drive him to Megan's grave so he could gather his thoughts on how to make amends with Walter. Upon their arrival, Father Flynn approached them as soon as Sean parked the car. There, Father Flynn informed both Sean and Sylvester that he had just talked to Walter who had just informed him of Paige's and Louise's kidnapping as well as letting them both know that Walter was still at Megan's grave. Sylvester then excused himself and thought now was as good as time as any to talk with Walter about the note that he left for him and ask him how he could fix things between them.

After approaching Walter, both men had a long talk about the concerns that Sylvester had and why he did some of the things he did and apologized for everything that he felt that he contributed to Walter's leaving with the exception of marrying Megan. By the time both men left the cemetery, apologies were made and accepted and both men left there as brothers and with a common goal and that was finding Paige and Louise.

Chapter 22: The Waiting Game

Out in the barn, Cabe and Ian were looking around the area where they witnessed everything unfold all the way up to the kidnapping.

Looking around for clues, "I don't get it Cabe, why take them? How were they even a threat?"

"I don't know. I wished I could answer that but the bigger question is what did we stumble onto that they thought it was necessary to take them even after the plausible explanation O'Leary gave as to a reason for being in the barn in the first place."

"I'm also wondering about those two kids. Why were they hiding up there and from who? Is there a possible connection to them hiding up there in the loft and what they were loading in the trucks? After all, Darin did say that he had to look for a couple of strays. Do you think he was talking about the children?"

"Those are some good questions we need to find answers too. I'm also hoping those kids can find it in themselves to trust us enough to talk to us."

"I hope so. Besides, if he was referring to the kids then we need to protect them at all cost."

"Agreed. Maybe with any luck they witnessed all the comings and goings and maybe overheard mentioned of what was being loaded into the trucks. Speaking of which, I'm going upstairs to look around the area where we found them."

"Good idea."

Going upstairs, Cabe and Ian both looked around to see if they could find anything that might give them some answers. As both men looked around the area where they found the children, all they could find was food, blankets, and whatever they needed to survive on but finding nothing to answer their questions. As both men began walking back downstairs, Ian noticed a board that was slightly moved to one side as well as some paper sticking to it. Walking over, Ian realized the loose board only made a hole big enough for a child to crawl through but not an adult.

"You find something over there?" asked Cabe.

"Yea, maybe. I don't know." Letting out a deep sigh, "Someone told Captain Donovan that I was in Walter's house, So, since I noticed this loose board here, I was hoping this was how Michael got in and saw me walking the perimeter of the barn from in here and told Captain Donovan but looking at this hole its only looks big enough for a child to fit through. It seems like my question is still unanswered which is who told Captain Donovan about me being in Walter's house?"

Walking over to Ian, "What do you have there?" asked Cabe who was holding his out his hand to take the paper from him.

"Not sure. Just a blank strip of paper I found stuck to the board here where its loose." Handing the paper to Cabe, "Getting back to my dilemma, what are your thoughts on how the Captain found out I was in here?"

Examining the paper, "Well, how about you just flat out ask Captain Donovan who told him you were in the house as well as asking both men about what is really going on around here."

"I could but will I get truthful answers out of either of them."

"Well, there is only one way to find out and that is to ask them and preferably with Toby present. That man can be a walking lie detector when it comes to getting truthful answers out of someone. So, how about we go back inside and warm up. If necessary we can always come back out here later and look around some more. Now as far as this paper, this maybe evidence to what is being shipped out of this barn and then again it may be nothing. We'll take it with us just in case.""

"I agree. Besides, it is getting kind of nippy out here."

Leaving the barn and walking back towards the house, both Ian and Cabe looked around the area to see if they could find something anything that could give them an idea on where they might have taken Paige and Louise. Not finding anything, Cabe and Ian walked back into the house.

Walking through the door, "Hey you two, where is everyone?" asked Cabe.

"Toby and Kerwin took the kids to the hospital to get checked out by Kerwin's Uncle Craig, Sean left to get Tobin so he could tell him about Louise and he also took Sylvester to Megan's grave site and Walter wanted some air so where he went is anybody's guess and Ralph and I are in the middle of upgrading our facial recognition software so we could get a better chance at identifying our kidnappers." stated Happy.

"Ok. Well, I guess we will have to wait for everyone to get back to see where we are which at this point is no where." said a frustrated Ian.

"I have a suggestion, why don't you call your Captain and ask him to come out here and bring Garda O'Leary with him. Surely he has some kind of answers to the questions that we have." asked Cabe.

"Yea, if he is willing to answer them."

"We can only ask."

"True. Ok, I will but I think I will wait until everyone gets back so we won't have to wait too long to get the answers we are hoping to get from them."

"Ok. Sounds like a plan."

Pulling up to the house, Sean saw Tobin along with Tomas and Connor sitting on the porch. With a heavy sigh Sean got out of the car and walked up to the house.

"Everyone." greeted Sean.

"Hi." greeted all three men back.

"Look, if you boys don't mind, I really need to have a private talk with Tobin here." requested Sean.

"Sure. We need to get going anyway to our next customer. So, I guess we will see you two later." said Tomas.

"Sounds good." said Tobin.

Watching as the Quirk boys walked over to their van and drive away, Sean stepped onto the porch and sat down on the bench and looked at Tobin not sure how he was going to break the news to him about his sister.

In a choked voice, "Tobin, there is something I need to tell you about Louise and I know you will be asking me a lot of questions that I don't have the answers too but I will do my best to answer the ones that I can."

There has only been a couple of times that he has seen this much worry and concern on Sean's face and that was when Walter was arrested at the age of eleven and when he was told that Megan had contracted MS. Now he is so stricken with worry and what looks to be guilt to the point that Tobin isn't sure he wants to know why. "Well, you can start by telling me what happen to my sister."

Letting out another heavy sigh, "Louise along with Paige was kidnapped this morning from Walter's house. Walter already has his team working on finding them with the information that they already have but it isn't much at this time but they are doing the best they can."

Looking shocked, "Who and why would they take my baby sister?"

"We don't know who they are or why they took them but this is what I can tell you. This morning, I was helping Walter by going out to his place with Cabe and Garda Ian Doogin to look around his barn because Garda Doogin thought Walter was hiding something in there. While we were looking around the loft area, some people drove into the barn without warning. While watching them from the loft trying to figure out what they were doing down there, Paige just happen to walk in the barn and I'm guessing to come out there to find us since her and Louise had gone grocery shopping while the three of us were still at McGinty's. One of the three men gave Paige a reasonable explanation as to why they were in there and then allowed her to go back to the house. Soon after Paige had left the barn, the man who allowed her to leave unharmed left the barn in a separate vehicle. Not long after that, the other two men decided to go to the house to bring Paige out that was when we found out that Louie was with her, so therefore, they took them both. If that wasn't enough, we also found two children hiding up there in the loft so no matter what we did someone was definitely getting hurt.

"Why didn't the Garda or Cabe do anything. They are both with law enforcement. Why did they allow them to take My sister, Your wife, the Mother of your children. Why Sean? Why?" cried Tobin

"I don't know but if it makes you feel any better I'm scared too. So how about we get up from here and head to Walter's house.

Nodding his head, "Ok then. Lets go."

Getting up, Sean proceeded to wheel Tobin to the car so they could make the drive to Walter's house. During the drive, Tobin proceeded to ask questions about the children that Sean couldn't answer. They both were also hoping to here some good news upon their arrival.

Once Ian got word that Toby and Kerwin were leaving the hospital with the kids, Ian decided it was time to call his Captain.

Picking up his phone, "Yes, this is Captain Donovan, how can I help you?

"Yes, Captain Donovan, this is Garda Ian Doogin. I really need to speak with you and Garda Michael O'Leary face to face."

"Why is that?" said Captain Donovan in a cold and annoyed voice.

"Because of a situation that has occurred here at Walter O'Brien's house."

"Why are you over there considering that is the basis of your suspension?" Trying to keep from screaming at the man on the other end of the phone, Ian took a deep breath before speaking again. "Look sir, I really need the two of you out here, its extremely important and time is of the essence here."

"How so?"

"I have incriminating evidence on Michael O'Leary, sir."

"What kind of evidence?"

"Sir, it would be best if you would see it for yourself. If nothing else then Michael can explain himself but it is crucial that both of you come out here."

Letting out a heavy sigh, "Very well. We'll be on our way and THIS BETTER BE HARD EVIDENCE OR ITS GOING TO BE **YOUR** JOB."

"Understood sir but believe me I really hope Michael has a good explanation of what I have to show you."

After hanging up from Ian, Captain Donovan decided to take the time to finish up some paperwork that he had to get finished that was expected to be on the Superintendent's desk in the next two hours. As he sat there and finished his paperwork, he began to wonder what was going on in his squad room here lately. First he had Ian Doogin who kept looking for ghost from the past to blame for the hardship that fell on his parents several years ago. It had gotten so bad that Ian seemed like he became obsessed with it soon after his daughter and unborn grandchild was killed in that car accident four years ago. Then out of the blue he had gotten this transfer officer in his office with a high recommendation from the Commissioner's office. Then the next thing he knows he is receiving a video on his desk that showed Doogin with Walter O'Brien in front of McGinty's that morning with Mr. O'Brien making the remark, "What were doing in my house without my permission? I have security video to prove it.". If it wasn't for that he would never have known about Doogin going so far as to break into someone's house for whatever reason which was the basis for his suspension and now he is back over there and all but demanded for him to meet him there along with O'Leary. Saying to himself, "There is only one way to get to the bottom of all this mess and that is to go over there."

Finishing his paperwork, Captain Donovan grabbed his jacket and the finished paperwork and dropped it in the Superintendent's inbox. He then stopped by the bullpen and hollered out to one person in particular, "O'Leary, you're with me."

"Yes sir." said a puzzled O'Leary who automatically got up from his desk and grabbed his jacket and was practically running after his boss.

Catching up to his Captain, "Sir, if you don't mind my asking but where are we going?"

"Lets say we got a special invite and if this goes the way I'm suspecting it to I may be getting rid of what has become a thorn in my side."

As the two men made their way to the Captain's car to make the unexpected trip to Walter's house, Captain Donovan was determined to get to the bottom of this mess once and for all.

The drive to Walter's house was done in comfortable silence with both men lost in their own thoughts and both wondering what was going on. Arriving at their destination, Captain Donovan looked over at Garda O'Leary and noticed how pale he looked all of a sudden, "You look pale O'Leary. You ok?"

Not sure how to answer that question, "Umm...yea. Sure. I'm good. Umm...sir, why are we here?

"Like I said earlier, we got a special invite so I guess we will find out together."

Opening the car door, Captain Donovan got out of the car and started for the front door of the house when he realized that O'Leary was still sitting in the car. Turning around, "You coming or what?"

Sighing heavily, O'Leary got out of the car and walked up to the house with what felt like the weight of the world on his shoulders. He stood behind Captain Donovan as he knocked on the door.

While knocking on the door, Captain Donovan started to really wonder what was going on here. One minute he has a suspended officer calling him and telling him to meet him here at the very address that got him suspended in the first place not to mention all but demanding Michael O'Leary to be present at this impromptu meeting and now he is standing her with said Garda looking as though he has seen a banshee. Standing there waiting for the door to open, Captain Donovan began to have a lot of questions popped into his head which made him more determined than ever to get those questions answered.

Hearing a knock on the door, Cabe got up from the table to answer it. "Hello, you must be Captain Donovan and Garda O'Leary. I'm Special Agent Cabe Gallo of Homeland Security with the United States." greeted Cabe.

"Hello. Yes, I am Captain Alan Donovan and this is Garda Michael O'Leary." Walking into the house and spotting Ian sitting a few feet behind Cabe, "So Ian, what was so important that you requested our presence here? You said there was a situation here and that time is of the essence not to mention you also said that you had something important you wanted me to see. Now that we are here, you mind telling me what **is** so important?" ask Captain Donovan in a no-nonsense tone.

While addressing Ian, Captain Donovan looked over at Michael. As he did, he could have sworn Michael looked worried to the point that he had beads of sweat forming on his brow. He again wondered to himself as to exactly what **was really** going on here.

"Well, for one, I was hoping a few more people would be here by now so, if you don't mind lets wait a few more minutes for them to show up."

"Now, you said time was of the essence here. So, who are we waiting on exactly?" Captain Donovan stated gruffly.

"The rest of Team Scorpion." said Ian.

"And might I ask who is Team Scorpion? I've never heard of them." said Captain Donovan.

Finally calming his nerves, O'Leary spoke up startling his Captain, "Neither have I."

"They are a group of geniuses that solve complex problems. When they get here I will introduce you to everyone of them but in the meantime I can give you a little bit of background on each of them.

Walter is the leader and founder of Scorpion. He mainly does the software among other things in the company. Sylvester is the mathematician and statistical theorist. Toby is our medic and psychologist on the team. Happy over there is the mechanical engineer and Ralph helps out from time to time in between his regular school and college classes...".

"Hey." said Happy and Ralph at the mention of their names from across the room.

Shaking his head, Cabe continued on. "...then we have Paige who is the team's liaison. She helps the team relate to normal people emotionally and calms the client/victim down if the need arises. Me, I am their government handler. I help provide access into classified areas and crime scenes or get whatever the mission entails." explained Cabe.

"Ok. So, I guess we're waiting for the rest of your team then. If you don't mind my asking, where did they go?"

"They're in the field checking out leads." answered Cabe.

Trying not to get aggravated, "Again, out of curiosity, leads to what?"

"One member plus one civilian are out trying to get some answers to some questions that popped up out of nowhere and two other team members are out trying to come terms with the situation at hand considering this situation not only hits close home for all of us but is especially personal for the both of them. That is all I'm at liberty to say at this time."

Hollering from the kitchen, "There is coffee in here if you want any but don't expect me to bring it to you because that isn't going to happen." stated Happy.

Cabe stood there shaking his head and Captain Donovan stood there with raised eyebrows and giving Cabe a confused look.

While still shaking his head, "Don't mind her, that is her normal attitude." stated Cabe.

Michael on the other hand felt like he was going to be sick. He suddenly began to wonder why he was requested to be here and what happen to Paige since he noticed she wasn't there at all. While waiting on Cabe explained to Captain Donovan what Scorpion does as a whole, Michael began wondering what Darin and Peadar did after he left them in the barn.

About ten minutes later, Walter and Sylvester walked into the house. "Hey guys, where are..." Walter started to ask when he noticed two people he didn't recognize sitting in his livingroom. Giving Cabe a confused looked, Cabe walked over to Walter and Sylvester. "Guys, we need to talk for a moment." said Cabe

Walking back out onto the front porch, "Look, I asked Ian to call his Captain and Micheal O'Leary to come here so we could possibly get some answers to some of our questions. All we could find in the barn was the kid's knapsack and a possible way they had gotten in the barn but nothing that could give any indication of where they took your Mother and Paige. Now we have not looked into the knapsack because we are waiting on Toby and Kerwin to get back with the kids so we can go through it with them present. I figured it could be one way to gain their trust."

"Understandable. Is that the same O'Leary that was out in the barn before the kidnapping?" ask Walter.

"Yes, so try not to kill him." requested Cabe

"I'll try not too." said Walter stoically.

"So are we waiting for Toby and Kerwin to get back with the kids before we start asking questions or what?" ask Sylvester.

"Something like that."

"Have you heard anything from them?" ask Walter.

"Yes, they are on their way back as we speak. They should be here any minute." said Cabe.

Just before turning to walk back inside, Sean pulled up to the house with Uncle Tobin in the passenger seat. Both Walter and Sylvester walked up to the car as Sean was getting out to get Tobin's wheelchair. After getting Tobin situated in his chair both Walter and Sylvester got him up the couple of steps so they all could entered the house with the exception of Cabe and Sean.

"Look Sean, before you go inside there is something you should know."

"And what might that be?"

"O'Leary is in there as well as his Captain."

Noticing the flash of anger in Sean's eyes, Cabe quickly gave his explanation as to why they were in the house especially Michael O'Leary. "Now, as of yet, Captain Donovan is unaware of O'Leary's involvement in any of this. So when you go inside please restrain yourself from wanting to kill the man. If it makes you feel any better, Ian and I both have been restraining ourselves from doing the same thing since they got here. So, can you do that if for no other reason then do it for Louise and Paige?"

Scoffing, "I'll try to restrain myself for them but no promises."

"I can't ask for anymore than that. I've also asked Walter to do the same thing."

Soon after their conversation ended Sean and Cabe walked into the house. Everyone either stood around in awkward silence or chit chatted idly while they waited on Toby and Kerwin to get back with the children.

About five minutes later Toby and Kerwin arrived back at the house with the children. After walking back in the house, Toby recognized Captain Donovan from the hospital immediately and quickly walked passed the unexpected visitors and caught Walter's attention to follow him into the kitchen

"What are they doing here?" whispered Toby.

"Not sure. Cabe and Ian invited them here and we were waiting on you guys. So, what was said about the children?" Walter whispered back.

Walking over to the fridge and opening it up, Toby proceeded to get Sorcha and Malachi something eat. "Well, that may take a moment but in a nutshell, they are reasonably healthy just a little malnourished at this point. Kerwin's Uncle did point out that there are some signs of physical abuse but gladly there didn't appear to be any sexual abuse so I'm glad to say that little girl is still a little girl if you know what I mean. Their blood work came back with vitamin deficiencies so they were given shots. He did want to keep them in the hospital overnight for observation but I talked him out of it by telling him that from a psychological point of view, they would be more comfortable in a home setting than in a hospital setting. I also assured Dr. Addlywood that I am capable of diagnosing and tending to any medical needs but if an emergency arises I will call him immediately. I also informed him there would be less questions asked if they came back with us considering the circumstances in which they were found. So, you now have two more children under your roof and if you don't mind I would like to stay here and observe them and try to read them. This environment may also show them that they can trusts us and maybe get some answers as to why they ran off like they did and from where."

"That would be ok. As far as that request goes, everyone can go back to the hotel and check out and bring their things back here. It may be a little cramped but it would be more efficient all the way around if this team was under one roof. And another thing, its more important than ever that we work and act like a team so we can bring Paige and Mom back home both alive and safe."

"I couldn't agree with you more. Also, we can talk about this later but I want to say that I'm sorry for everything that I may have did to caused you to leave the way you did. I was being a jerk when you needed a supportive friend and I wasn't there at all for you."

Thinking about Toby's apology, "Yes, we can talk about it later but right now I don't need the jerk that you have been lately but the best friend that you were **before** Tim showed up at the garage."

"I can be that friend again and speaking of Tim, I would like to talk to you about him at some point."

"Do we have too?"

"Yes, I have questions that I need answers too and I was hoping that you would have them or help me find them. Its important Walter."

Not sounding overly enthused "Ok, I guess we could talk about him. Just note that I really don't want too."

"Duly noted pal and thanks."

After the kids finished eating, Walter asked Ralph if he would take Sorcha and Malachi upstairs and they would be called down if necessary. As soon as the kids were settled, everyone was gathered in the livingroom to discuss the matters at hand.

"So, is everyone here now?"ask an aggravated Captain Donovan.

"For the most part." said Ian.

"Look." interrupted Cabe, "I told you a little bit about Scorpion earlier so let me formally introduce you to the members of Team Scorpion." Pointing to each team member, "This is Walter O'Brien, Sylvester Dodd, Happy Quinn, and Dr. Toby Curtis. This is also Sean O'Brien and Tobin Milligan, Walter's Father and Uncle and Kerwin Addlywood a former classmate of Walter's and the children that just went upstairs is Ralph Dineen-O'Brien Walter and Paige's son and Sorcha and Malachi of which we will discuss those two later on."

"You missed one, where is Ms. Dineen, your team's liaison?" ask Captain Donovan in a sarcastic tone.

"That is why you and Michael are here. We are hoping you could answer that and many other questions." said Ian.

Shocked by Ian's statement, "Us? Why us? I don't understand." said a confused Captain Donovan.

"Well not you directly unless you somehow had a hand in this situation but Michael most certainly can answer a lot of questions and hopefully answer the most important question of all." said Ian.

Turning to look at Michael, "Michael, do you know what Ian is referring too?"

Trying to sound calm, "Not entirely sure, sir?"

"Well let me enlighten you. Cabe, myself, and one other person in this room was in the barn when you drove a box truck in and helped two men finish unloading their pickup truck and reload the contents in the truck **you** brought in and you then helped reload theirs. We also witness you stopping one of them from shooting Paige Dineen in the face telling her that he was just mad because he was left out of his father's will. After letting her walk back to the house on her own accord, you told them to finish tying everything down and make sure they have everything and get out of there before she calm's down enough and calls her husband, which I am going to assume you were talking about Walter, then you left in the same truck that you entered the barn with. Now that I have established your involvement here's the kicker of it all. Those two hooligans that you left behind decided to ignore **your** instructions and went up to the house to get her but guess what, not only did they bring Paige back to the barn but they also brought back Louise O'Brien as well. They forced both women into the truck at gunpoint and left.

Now, if you are wondering why I didn't report a crime in progress that was due to extenuating circumstances. If I had called then, first of all, I would have given away our position up in the loft and secondly, there was a strong chance that either Ms. Dineen or Mrs. O'Brien or both would have been immediately shot and killed. Then there was the two children we came upon as well. I also know I should have called afterwards but frankly, sir, I wasn't sure who I could trust given O'Leary's involvement. We also didn't want to bring that much attention to the children and accidentally alert the people they were hiding from considering what we overheard in the loft before Michael showed up which was the basis for keeping everything we have done so far under the radar. Sir, we are hoping we can trust you and hope we can get some answers here now especially from Michael. And Michael, just so you know, I do have proof of everything that happened in the barn. Do you want to see?"

Looking over at Michael, "Well, Michael. Do you have any idea on what he is talking about or do I need to look at this proof he mentioned to get my own answers?"

As everyone began looking at him and expecting some kind of answer, Michael wished he was anywhere but sitting in the livingroom of that house. How could he have so been stupid by leaving Peadar and Darin here at the house by themselves expecting them to leave Walter's girlfriend alone and on top of all of that he had no idea that Mrs. O'Brien was even in the house with her. Now he has to make a choice of either coming up with plausible answers to their questions hoping he can talk his way out of this situation or spill the beans and reveal his actual involvement with Darin and Peadar. Good or bad, he just couldn't let two innocent women be caught in the crossfire. He needed to decide what to do and do it quick.


	23. Chapter 23

**I don't own Scorpion or any of the CBS affiliates.**

 **I would like to thank everyone who is following this story and also for all of the great reviews that I have received. Thank You. It is greatly appreciated.**

 **Author's Note: I would like to add that there are certain segments that came from various parts of the show throughout this story.**

 **Author's Note:Please keep in mind that at some point I was trying to channel a child so if the English isn't perfect that's because a child does not always speak proper English then again some adults don't either and that's including me at times. LOL.**

 **ALERT! ALERT! I am going to apologized now just in case I accidentally make anyone feel uncomfortable reading the next few chapters. Not to scare anyone or make anyone feel uncomfortable but there is MENTIONED and MENTIONED ONLY of physical abuse. I refuse to go into gory details because I want all of my readers to feel comfortable reading anything I write. Also, this chapter may be a little long. Please enjoy.**

Chapter 23: New Players Entering The Game

Michael sat there in silence for what felt like hours trying to decide the best coarse of action for his predicament.

Interrupting his thoughts, "Let me see your evidence Ian." requested Captain Donovan.

Handing over his phone, Captain Donovan took the requested phone and watched the video that Ian had taken from the loft that morning and watched it in its entirety. Shocked at what he just watched and not knowing what to say, Captain Donovan just handed Ian back his phone as he stared at Michael with the look of disappointment in his eyes.

After watching Michael sit there without saying a word for what felt like an eternity, Captain Donovan finally spoke up again.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself or do you want to watch the video to remind you of this morning's activities.

In a low voice, "No sir but I can explain everything."

"Then please do and do it now. Just so you know that if you know the whereabouts of both these women you better speak up now because as of right now you are facing charges of accessory to kidnapping and possibly murder if anything happens to either one or both of them on top of whatever was going on in that barn this morning." growled Captain Donovan.

"Before you start to explain just think twice before deciding to lie to us because I will know. Trust me on that. I'm like a walking lie detector and I'm that good." said Toby in a threatening manner.

Weighing his options Michael decided to throw everything out on the table.

Taking a deep breath and praying that what he was about to do was the right thing, Micheal began his explanation. "For starters, my name is not Michael O'Leary. My actual name is Cory Hanley. I've been working undercover from my home in Isle of Man in conjunction with a joint task force which includes Interpol. We have been tracking one maybe two people who has been creating and passing counterfeit money between Isle of Man, London, and now here.

Our investigation lead us to a Byron Ackerley. He has a background in law enforcement in the Cyber Crimes Division but he was discredited and fired when he was caught taking bribes to erase certain crimes so certain criminals could get either a lesser charge or set free altogether. The more "get out of jail free cards" he gave the more money he made. He was caught, sentenced, and served his time but now he makes his money by freelancing his services to the highest bidder. When we caught him in a sting operation, we managed to get into his computer where he had been swapping emails to work for someone here in Ireland. He had to give a code word to make himself legit considering he has never met his benefactor face to face. Since he had several different aliases and Michael O'Leary being one of them, that was where I came in. Captain Donovan, his transfer papers were already approved for him to work at your precinct as a Garda to avoid any Garda involvement per se in his other activities. I chose to take his place in hoping to get a glimpse of his boss but so far, I only have been able to work with Darin and Peadar. Now as far as those two are concerned, I honestly do not know where they took your loved ones but if I did, I would definitely be telling you. Honestly, I do not want anything to happen to them. I never meant for two innocent bystanders get caught up in the middle of all this."

"Do you think you were compromised?" ask Walter.

"I don't know. I don't thing so."

"Do you think they suspect you are not who you say you are?"

"I don't know that either. Do you think that they thought Paige was spying on them or thought she was an undercover Garda or something instead of both her and your mother being in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"Maybe." stated a frustrated Walter.

"If we had made our presence known in the barn, what were the chances of them killing both Paige and Louise or even now when they realize they are of no use to them?" ask Ian.

"If you guys made yourselves known in that barn this morning then they would certainly both be dead by now. As far as their intentions right now, I do not know. I wished I did."

Shaking his head Walter began to pace around the room in frustration.

"The file that came across my desk with high recommendations from the Commissioner's office, was it his or yours?" questioned Captain Donovan.

"I'm not entirely sure. I do know that my superior called him and everything was set up from there."

Interrupting, "I have a nagging question to ask and this question of which is directed towards you, Captain Donovan, but either one of you can answer it. Captain Donovan, how did you find out that I broke into Walter's house?" ask Ian.

"So, you **are** admitting to breaking into this house."

Sighing heavily, "Yes. So, how did you find out?"

"Ok. But, before I answer that question I have a question for Walter?"

Annoyed by Ian's pointless question, "What would that be?"

"Do you want to press charges against Ian here for breaking and entering?"

Looking a little surprised and shaking his head, "What?! No. Can we just focused on the issue at hand please?" said Walter in an exasperated tone.

Sighing heavily, "Ok. I just had to ask. Anyway, I arrived in my office and the flash drive was already on my desk. There was a video on it with the two of you in front of McGinty's with Walter saying that he had security footage of you in his house without permission. Now, who put it there, I have no idea."

"Michael or Cory or whoever you're going by at this time, did you put it on his desk?"

"No. This is the first I'm hearing of it. Why did you break into this house for?"

"NEVERMIND ALL OF THAT. OUR TOP PRIORITY IS FINDING PAIGE AND MY MOTHER." yelled Walter grabbing everyone's full attention. Stomping over to Cabe and whispering, "Cabe call Simone Taylor and confirm, Cory Hanley and make sure this whole operation is legit." Letting out another exasperated sigh and not wanting to deal with the mess on the other side of the room, Walter counted to ten before turning around to deal with the three people in the livingroom. Seemingly out of no where Walter was standing in front of Cory, "Look, Mr. Hanley, if I find out your are lying to me and my family gets hurt because of your **lack** of co-operation here at this very moment, believe me there is no place you will be able to hide. Ian, did you and Cabe find anything, I mean anything at all in that barn?"

"Just a strip of blank paper and the things the kids took to survive on and their knapsack." stated Ian.

"Where is everything"

"Over at the table."

Walking over to the table, Walter picked up the strip of paper they found in the barn and examined it. Recognizing the texture of the paper, Walter decided to keep that information to himself a little while longer until he could gather a little more information on Cory Hanley and this whole operation.

Walking back up to Walter and whispering to him, "Walter, I just got off of the phone with Simone. Everything Cory has told us is legit." stated Cabe.

Letting out a sigh, "Ok. Did you tell her about the kidnapping?"

"Yes. I told her. She says she will help in any way she can."

Nodding his head and facing the team, "Look, lets put the counterfeiting case on the back burner for now because if we don't find anything to indicate where they took Mom and Paige in the next forty-eight hours we may never find them and right now we are down to forty-two hours."

Sitting off to the side of the room listening and watching everything unfold, Sean, Tobin, and Kerwin watched in awe as Walter took control of the whole situation without hesitation. All three men couldn't believe this man was the same angry teenager that left Ireland almost twenty years ago.

"Sean." whispered Tobin.

"Yea." responded Sean not taking his eyes off his son.

"I really do need to make an apology to Walter after all this is over. He is truly not the same person who left here all those years ago. In fact I really need to get to know the man my nephew has become."

"I am proud of the man my son has become more now than I was when he help saved everyone when the lake exploded a few months ago along with standing up to Connor and Tomas."

As Kerwin sat there and observed everyone in front of him, he realized that he didn't know Walter anymore now than he did when they were kids. Thinking about the reasons why he didn't bother with Walter when they were kids made him ashamed of himself. Kerwin decided then and there that when this was all over he was going to talk to Walter and try to explain to him why he bullied him all those years ago.

Suddenly making their presence know, "Walter, is there a chance that finding the counterfeiters will lead us to our girls?" asked Sean.

"I don't know but if we concentrate more on finding the counterfeiters then it may lead us away from finding Mom and Paige. So, I think it would be better to concentrate on finding them first and that may lead us to the counterfeiters. With that being said, its hard to say where any of this will lead but either way we need to find them first."

"I agree. I just wished I had done something to stop them.

"I know Dad but as Cory said a moment ago; if you had of, we could be having a completely different conversation right now. Paige is smart and resourceful and will protect Mom as best she can and I just have to have faith that they are alive and unharmed right now."

"Praying is all we can do right now."

"Dad, can you do me a favor and go upstairs and get the kids. I want to go through their knapsack. Maybe there is something in there that can give us some answers."

"Ok. I'll help wherever I can but I actually feel useless since I don't know how you do the things that you and your team do."

Patting his father on the shoulder, Walter couldn't help but feel the same way even though he has the ability to find people on the other side of the world without breaking a sweat but this is different. This is the two people he loves more than anything and they both are relying on him to come through for them.

Getting Ralph's attention, "Ralph." said Malachi

"Yes."

"Are we in trouble?"

"No. I wouldn't know what you would be in trouble for."

"We broke into your Dad's barn and took the blankets and food."

"I think under the circumstances the Garda will over look that. Why were you up in the barn anyway?"

"We were running away from Mr. Simms' house. He was being very mean to some of the others there and I just didn't feel safe. I took Sorcha because she is too small to defend herself and I didn't want her to disappear like the other girls do that come into that place."

Sitting up on the bed, "You know you can trust my Dad and the rest of Scorpion."

"What is Scorpion?"

"That is the name of my Dad's team and company. Scorpion saves everyone including my mom and grandma."

"I want too but I'm scared."

"As of right now you are a part of this cyclone and you will be protected at all cost. I will go down with you and you can explain everything to my Dad or I can have him come up here and you can talk to him in private. Your choice."

"You promise that we won't get in trouble for taking things that didn't belong to us and we won't be taken back to Mr. Simms."

"I'm going out on a limb here and say scoop."

"What does that mean?"

"It is the strongest promise I can make and it also means that if the promise gets broken then I owe you a scoop of ice cream and in this case it will be to both of you."

Laying in a corner and being quiet as a mouse Sorcha sat up and looked wide-eyed at Ralph at the sound of getting some ice cream and started to smile.

Knocking on and opening the bedroom door, Sean poked his head into the room. "Hey kids, you are wanted downstairs."

Opening the door up wider to allow the kids to walk out of the bedroom, Malachi leaned closer to Ralph, "Scoop, right."

"Right. Scoop-swear."

As all three kids took a seat at the kitchen table, Walter walked in with their knapsack.

"Ok. Malachi...Sorcha...Look, we are wanting to go through your knapsack here to see if there is anything in it that could probably help us. Now if you know anything about what was going on down in the lower level of the barn, you know you can trust us to protect you. Anything you can tell us may also help us find both Ralph's Mother and my Mother and I would greatly appreciate it if you could try to help in anyway of getting them back here safe and sound." said Walter who was short of pleading for anything useful in finding the love of his life and his mother.

"Ok. But its just our clothes and a book that Sorcha took from the place we were at that she wasn't suppose to have." stated Malachi who gave Sorcha a pointed look.

"Well, we will look anyways. You may have something in there that could help and don't realize it."

"Ok."

Opening the knapsack, Walter proceeded to pull the contents out and lay them on the table one at a time with everyone else surrounding the table. Walter pulled out a couple of changes of dirty clothes, a book of which Sorcha quickly picked up and held close to her, and a couple of toys but nothing that would point the way to his girlfriend and mother.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Just personal possessions." stated a frustrated Walter.

"In a small voice, "We're sorry." apologized Malachi

Trying to be reassuring, "Its ok. Its not your fault. We were just hoping that you may have picked something up unknowingly that might have helped us is all. Did you see anything or overhear anything that they said while in the barn or noticed how often they have been in and out of the barn? Anything would be helpful. Anything at all."

Sitting back in the chair, Malachi thought about what Ralph had told him upstairs about his Dad and his team. He also thought about the promise he made to him and the option he had about talking to his Dad in private. Looking around the room, Malachi noticed the man he heard the others call O'Leary and that was when he made his decision.

"Ok, but..." looking uncertain around the room, "...but can we talk without everyone else around?"

"Yes, we can. We can go upstairs if you want and talk up there."

"Ok. Also, can Sorcha and Ralph come up there with us?"

"Malachi, you can have who ever you'd like up there. That choice is all yours."

"Ok, then. I just want Sorcha and Ralph up there with us."

"Ok." Getting up from table, Walter noticed Sorcha still clutching her book. "Sorcha, you can bring your book if you want."

Seeing Sorcha smile gave Malachi the reassurance that he could trust Walter. Getting up from the table the foursome went upstairs to have their conversation. While walking upstairs, Walter sent a text out to Cabe, Sylvester, Happy, and Toby to put their coms in undetected from everyone else in the house. Right now the only ones he wanted privy to this conversation was his team and his team **only**.

After watching Walter go upstairs with the children, everyone but Happy, Toby and Sylvester went into the livingroom. Cabe went into the livingroom with the others to see if he could learn anything more about what was going on out in the barn. Happy, Toby, Sylvester stayed in the kitchen to see if they could find any useful information online until they got a text to put their coms in undetected.

Entering Ralph's bedroom and closing the door, all three kids climbed on the air mattress while Walter took a seat on the floor farthest from the door.

"Ok, Malachi. I'm going to be honest with you. Even though you cannot see Cabe, Sylvester, Happy, or Toby, which are the people who actually makes up my team, they are able to listen in on this conversation. Please, don't think I am betraying your trust or anything like that; its just you might say something that they may think is important to us that may help us find Ralph's mother and my mother that much quicker but in secret. Like I said downstairs, you may have seen or heard something that may be important to finding them but they are the only ones able to hear us. Are you ok with that. You know you can trust me and my team to keep you safe. Right. So, the floor is all yours."

"Scoop promise?" ask Malachi.

Smiling and looking at Ralph, "Yes Malachi, scoop promise."

Smiling back at Walter, "Ok but first, what do you mean the floor is all mine?"

"That means you can start talking when ever you feel comfortable. You are the center of my attention at this moment.

Looking over at Ralph and seeing him nod his head to go ahead, Malachi began to speak.

"Oh...ok...umm...I'm not sure where to start."

"How about at the beginning. That might be easier. Like, where did you run from and why and how did you manage to end up in my barn?"

"Out of the blue and in such a small voice, Walter thought he was hearing things at first. "Are you mad at us?" asked Sorcha.

Shocked at hearing her small voice, Walter smiled. "No, Sorcha. I'm not mad. I, as well as the rest of my team and family, are concerned for your safety and well being. We don't want to see you get sick or hurt in any way shape, form, or fashion. Our top priority is to keep you safe. So, no. I am not mad but if it makes you feel any better I do accept your apology."

Smiling back at Walter, "Ok."

Downstairs, the look on Toby's face was priceless.

"Kerwin and I both have been with both of those two kids all morning and I could never get one reaction out of her nor could Dr. Addlywood get her to answer any questions verbally and yet she talks to Walter. Shocked, That is all I can say about the matter." said Toby in a voice meant for only Sly and Happy to hear.

Back upstairs, Walter managed to keep from laughing out loud at Toby.

"So, Malachi, talk to me man. What can you tell me?"

"Well, I started telling Ralph about how we ended up in the barn just before his grandpa came up here to get us."

"Ok. Could you start over and tell me from the beginning."

"Yes. We were running away from Mr. Simms' house. He was being very mean to some of the others and I just didn't feel safe there. I took Sorcha because she is too small to defend herself and I didn't want her to disappear like the other girls do that come into that place."

"What kind of place is it? Is it an orphanage? A foster home? What can you tell me?"

"I'm not sure. I'm only allowed in certain areas of the house but I do tend to get into places where I am not suppose to be. That was how I came across Sorcha. I have seen grown-ups come in there and take kids out, mostly girls, mostly around my age some maybe a little older but then they never come back. Some girls are brought in and I think some of them may be sick because I have seen them holding their bellies or rubbing them. Those are the ones who are taken directly back to the nurses area of the house and they are kept on that side. I rarely see any of them. There are also lots and lots of babies there."

Curious of what kind of place these two ran from, Walter started to wonder if these two ran from foster care but then again, he didn't think foster homes had on-site nurses. He also wasn't sure if orphanages did either. "What made you believe that this Mr. Simms was mean?"

"I was outside walking around one day even though I wasn't suppose to be out, I overheard him with one of the older girls that was brought in. She was asking to see her baby and he told her no that she wasn't allowed to see it and for her to go back to her room. As he started to walk away she grabbed at his arm begging to see her baby and he then hit her in the face hard enough to knock her down with the back of his hand. He left her crying and laying on the ground bleeding from her mouth where he hit her and her head where she hit it on the ground and then he had two other big guys come and pick her up and take her back into the house. That was the last time I ever saw her. That was when I got scared that he might do that to me or Sorcha and I didn't want Sorcha to disappear like that. So, I decided to start sneaking clothes for me and Sorcha and what little food I could get before I got Sorcha and ran. In order for us to get out, we had to sneak through the front of the house where Mr. Simms' office is located. As we was trying to get out, we had to hide in Mr. Simms' office and that is how Sorcha got that book."

"But he had lots Mally." explained Sorcha.

"Yea but you should have left it. It wasn't that important to have."

"It was for me."

"Why?"

Interrupting what Toby would call a sibling squabble, "Ok. Ok. That is enough. Lets stay focused here. We can worry about the importance of that book later. Is there anything else you can tell me about Mr. Simms?"

"No."

"What about social workers? Have you ever seen any of them wondering about the property?"

"No. The social worker that brought me out there practically had to beg him to take me in because there was no other place that had room."

"Why were you placed in children services?"

"Both my parents were killed in a car accident last year. I have been moved from one place to another. My social worker has been trying to find a family member to take me in but as far as I know she hasn't been able to find any and I don't know of any and I don't remember my mom and dad talk about any other family members. Ms. Trendall has been searching everywhere but since she had left me there I haven't seen or heard from her since. I don't even know how to contact her to let her know I want to go to a new place."

"Do you know what her first name is?"

"No."

"Do you remember what she looks like?"

"Maybe if I saw her picture."

"What about you Sorcha, how did you end up there? Do you remember anything prior to being placed there?"

"I was born there."

"Oh." Upon hearing that statement, Walter wasn't sure if he should take her word for it or take it as what she may have been told. She was around four years of age after all.

"How did the both of you end up in my barn?"

"Well, since we left when it was still dark out we didn't know where we were going. We walked for a really long time. It was getting cold out and started to rain and so we hid where we could until we just came upon this house and found a loose board on the side of the barn big enough for us to crawl through so we got in and hid out in there. I tried to get into the house but it was locked and we couldn't find a way in so we just stayed in the barn. I would sometimes leave Sorcha to go out and find things like the blankets that I took off of a line or out of a barn and food when I was able too."

"How long were you in the barn?"

"I don't know a few days maybe. I'm not sure."

"Ok. How did you two keep warm. It isn't exactly balmy weather out there. Those temperatures got pretty cold especially at night."

"I know. That was why we were up in the loft. The wind didn't get in the place we were at where we were found. It was warmer than being downstairs anyways."

"What about the other people in the barn this morning, have you seen any of those people or the trucks in the barn before today in the whole time you've been hiding out there?

"All three guys has been in and out several times while we have been in there. The man downstairs has been in there a lot even without the other two men. I was afraid one time he was going to come upstairs and find us hiding up there. The other two guys sound like I have heard them at Mr. Simms before when I was outside walking around. Other than that, I'm not sure about them. I just wanted to hide Sorcha and not get caught and taken back there.

Having a thought to occur to him, Walter pulled out his phone to text Cabe to send him a picture of Ian, Cory, and Captain Donovan. After waiting a minute or two, Cabe responded back with the requested picture. Taking his phone and showing Malachi and Sorcha, "Hey, do either of you recognize anyone in this picture."

"No." said Sorcha

"Just that one." said Malachi pointing at Cory.

"Thank you both. What you have told me may actually give us something to work with but either way we will look into the whole thing dealing with your social worker and whatever is going on in that house. If there is something bad going on in there then we will find it but we need to find Ralph's Mother's and my Mother first."

"What about us?" asked Sorcha."

"What do you mean? What about you?"

"What is going to happen to us? I don't want to be taken away from Mally."

"As of right now, the two of you will stay with me and my team. You both are going to be staying in this house where it is warm and safe and where you will have hot meals, a warm bed, and clean clothes. Will that be ok with the two of you? Ralph, are you ok with these arrangements? If at all possible until we get to the bottom of all of this mess, you two will be kept together but unfortunately I can't guarantee anything afterwards."

Getting off of the bed and placing her book on it, Sorcha walked over to Walter and gave him a kiss on the cheek and a hug of which both shocked and surprised Walter. Not knowing what else to do, Walter hugged the small child back and smiled.

Standing back up and looking Walter in the eyes, "Staying here is ok with me."

"Me too." said Malachi.

"I'm good with these arrangements too." said Ralph who was smiling at the scene before him.

Now I'm going to leave it up to you whether or not you want to come downstairs. You are welcome to stay wherever you are more comfortable.

Leaving the kids upstairs, Walter proceeded downstairs to see if the guys came up with anything that could help in finding Paige and Louise.

Pulling through what appeared to be an old wrought iron gate, Darin put the truck in parked and turned towards Louise, "Do anything stupid one or both of you will pay the price. Do you understand?" growled Darin still pointing a gun at Louise.

"Yes." said Louise in a quivering voice.

Looking back at Paige, "And you back there the same applies to you also. Peadar, you and Miss Paige back there get out with her following you. Then Miss Louise and I will be next."

After getting out of the truck as instructed, Paige managed to get to Louise's side and tried to keep her calm in this stressful situation. "Louise, I know you're scared and so am I but no matter what happens we need to stay calm and collective ok." whispered Paige.

"HEY! DID I SAY YOU CAN TALK. NO. I DIDN'T. SO, THIS IS YOUR ONE FREE PASS. **NO TALKING. GOT IT**?" yelled Darin.

"Yes. Sorry but I was just..." Paige started to say in a scared voice.

Walking over to her in a threatening manner and pointing a finger in her face, "I didn't ask for an explanation. Now **SHUT IT**."

Nodding her head Paige did as she was told and both women followed Darin inside the house with Peadar following behind. As they entered the house through what appeared to be an old service entrance both women were lead down some stairs into a room that appeared to be a basement with no other noticeable ways of escape with the exception of a couple of small-barred window that couldn't be reached or seen through unless you were standing on something. Being lead to a separate room which was locked with a padlock, both women were shoved inside and locked in. Like the room they'd just walked through, the only other way out was a small-barred window that neither of them could see out of. After the door was shut and locked behind them, Louise collapsed on the floor and started to sob.

Looking down, Paige's heart went out to the older woman. She remembers feeling those feelings the first time when she, Walter, Cabe, and Sylvester was taken hostage on the cruise ship and she had a gun pointed in her face for the first time and Walter talked the hostage takers into trading places with her. Lowering herself on the floor, "Hey, Louise. Trust me we are going to be ok. By now, I'm sure Walter has realized that we are missing and is very actively looking for us and **he** will find us. We just have to keep our heads about us and stay calm and keep things together until we get home. Can you do that or at least try. Believe me I am scared too but I have to believe Walter is going to find us and get us home safely."

Nodding her head, "I'll try but how can you stay calm after everything that has happened?"

"Believe it or not I have been in this type of situation a time or two in the last two and half years since I joined Scorpion."

Crying and giving a thin smile, "But I still don't see how you can stay so calm. "

Thinking about what she could say to put Louise's mind at ease, Paige could only think of one thing in response to that and hoped it would make a difference. "Because I believe in **your** son and Scorpion and Scorpion saves everyone and we are apart of everyone."

Smiling at the answer given, "Then I need to believe in my son too and Scorpion itself."

After smiling and giving Louise a much needed hug, Paige started looking around the room to see if they were possibly being watched. Standing up to see if she could see any cameras present but not seeing any, Paige assumed that they were being watched anyway and possibly being overheard as well. Putting her hands in her pocket and leaning up against the wall, Paige found the forgotten sliver of hope in her pockets. Taking the small object out of her pocket and keeping in the palm of her hand, she walked over to Louise and sat down on the dirty floor close beside her hoping what she has planned will work.

After talking with the children, Walter began talking with Captain Donovan about Cory and what he thought about his story. After finishing the conversation, both Captain Donovan and Cory left his house and decided to try to keep the kidnapping off the radar until morning. Kerwin then offered to take Ian home and also offered to stop by the next day depending on how busy he was at work to see if there had been any changes. He then told Happy that he will say something to his boss about her looking at the truck if they haven't found the reason for it not starting.

After everyone else left, Walter approached his team to let them know they were welcome to stay at his house and that he felt it would be more efficient to have everyone under one roof.

As the team started to leave, Cabe made an unexpected announcement.

"Hey, guys, Walter asked me to call Simone Taylor earlier to confirm Cory's story and this whole operations but what I didn't tell Walter earlier was that Simone will be here either tonight or in the morning. I didn't want to say anything just in case that Cory is the impostor."

"Good thinking." said Toby. "But if he isn't the real Cory Hanley then he needs an Oscar because he didn't so much as flinch while explaining himself."

As everyone got ready to leave to head back to the hotel, Walter walked over to stand next to his Father and Uncle planning on having a conversation about the day's events. Walter realized he had left his com in when he heard a faint noise come over it.

"Walter."

Listening a little harder to what sounded like a whisper but a little louder came over it again.

"Walter."

Realizing he wasn't hearing things Walter said the first thing that popped into his head. "PAIGE!"


End file.
